Monsters & Myths Story 1- (Verse 3)
by MistyMay6886
Summary: In a world were vicious monsters hide in plain sight hunters are the last line of defense between the unknowing humans and the terrifying hidden evils of their world. The decedents of Angels protect humanity... but when a 'Monster' saves hunter Alec Lightwood's life he's confused.. Why would an evil, soulless monster risk their life to save someone who is their sworn enemy?
1. Chapter 1- Something Shimmering in the d

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**Monsters And Myths**

**Story 1**

**Monsters & Myths Verse**

**(Verse 3)**

Summery

In a world were vicious monsters hide in plain sight hunters are the last line of defense between the unknowing humans and the terrifying hidden evils of their world.

Angelus Sanguis- the decedents of Angels- believe it is their born, sworn duty to keep the monsters at bay, that they alone are the only thing safeguarding the world from total chaos and anarchy.

This is how it has always been; few even think to question it…

Least of all brave and righteous Alexander Lightwood.

His family has an exalted reputation. Admired- in some cases nearly to the point of worship- by hunters and utterly feared by the monsters for centuries. It's a long, very proud tradition he is expected to and has every intention of carrying on…

But when an unexpected twist leads to one of the 'monsters' inexplicably saving Alec's life, he is confused…

And intrigued…

_Why would an evil, soulless monster risk their life to save someone who is their sworn enemy?_

Alec is determined to find out the truth… but the 'truth' is far more complicated and confusing than he could have ever imagined…

_**Notes:**_

***Blanket Note For All Verses 3-9***

_Kay, so here's the thing, originally I was planning on starting these kinda in shifts, but I'm impatient and I really want to get this stuff going…_

_So over the next three weeks I am going to be starting universes_

_3-9_

_****(10 won't start till the others are well underway for a very specific reason)****_

_So some of them may take a bit to update but I will have the 1st half of chapter 1 up for all of them by May 10th (I'm setting me a deadline damnit)_

_The SEM Verse is still my main focus right now and will still be updated at least once a week…the others updates will be a bit more sporadic depending on which one my mind is running with at that moment_

_I know it seems like a lot and not gonna lie that's cause it IS but my mind has been running with these for over a year now, I think it'll work out just fine…_

_All the universes I will most likely just update half a chapter at a time__._ _The 1st stories of them will mainly just be introducing our characters and getting a feel for the world so- with the exception of the 40's with a twist- the 1st stories will only be 8 chapters,_

_Kay think that's everything_

_Onto our regularly scheduled program_

Okay here we go with another one…This one kinda came out of nowhere but I'm really excited about it. Many of the others are loosely based around another show or the like but this one basically just came about from me messing around on Photoshop and really liking how Magnus looked with green skin and violet eyes…

He reminded me of Loren from Angel and at first I was planning on doing a kind of AU of that but the more my mind ran the further away it went…

_I don't actually know where the heck half of this came from but I'm really excited about it._

Also this is the only verse in which I have anything close to nephilim (I didn't call them that for a specific reason but that won't come up for a while)…

Alright- enough talking, let's see where we end up here…

_**Chapter 1:**_

_**Something Shimmering In The Dark**_

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Alec sighed, eyes trailing slowly over the city from his perch, peering around the heavy stone gargoyle statue, being sure to keep out of view of the oblivious humans milling about the busy streets of Brooklyn below.

He shook his head,

_They had no idea of the threats hidden in plain sight…_

Everywhere he looked he caught sight of another. A hulking bat like creature, gesturing wildly, chatting and carrying on with some of the other officers leaving the police precinct. a flash of glimmering Magic as a pale, Fae girl with near white hair and electric blue eyes laughed, resting her hand on another girls shoulder, nails lengthening, the sharp, deadly claws catching, reflecting the streetlight above. An abnormally tall, thin being with sharp claws and sharper fangs, holding the door to a little burger joint for a woman and her young children, giving a friendly smile and nod, blood orange eyes glowing bright.

The woman smiled back brightly, a faint blush tingeing her cheeks.

Alec sighed, shaking his head again,

_They had no clue…_

The monsters were everywhere, always hovering around the humans, hiding in plain sight, just waiting for their chance, the humans totally oblivious to the threat standing right next to them.

They saw the beings, but they didn't really _'see'_ them. They saw a glamour- a false image. They did not see the wings, or claws, or fangs…

They did not see the powers, sparks, flames, and electric arcs…

They just saw a normal-usually invitingly attractive- human.

It would be so much easier if they could actually _see_ it; see the horrifying nightmare creatures surrounding them. At least then hunters wouldn't have to work in the shadows to protect them.

As it was they had to keep their work secret, only engaging the monsters the rare times they found them a safe distance from their prey-

It really didn't reflect well when a hunter got hulled in by the human authorities; saw as nothing but lowlife thugs, attacking innocent, law abiding citizens.

Couldn't very well tell them 'No officer, I know he looks like a mild-mannered librarian, but don't let the glasses fool you, he's _actually_ a vicious nightmare demon in disguise.'

_Well, unless you actually WANT to spend the night in the drunk tank._

He couldn't help a faint laugh, remembering the look on Jace's face when he'd

showed up the next day and bailed him out after he tried that one.

That'd been a fun one. It happened two years ago and he and Max still teased Jace about it from time to time.

_If anything it'd given them a good laugh._

He couldn't help imagining what Iz would have said if she could have seen him in there-

_Oh man…_

She had always been relentless, never passing up a chance to tease her brothers (Especially Alec and Jace. Being eight years younger than Jace and over a decade younger than the twins meant Max usually missed the bulk of the sister torment…)

Izzy really had been one of a kind; patrols had been far more fun with her. He sighed, leaning kind of heavily against the Gargoyle statue, lost in thought.

Tragically five years ago they lost Izzy to the fight. A mission went sideways and one of the monsters got the best of her. The leopard came out of nowhere…It was totally unexpected, they hadn't even had reports of Were-creatures anywhere near that area…and a Were attack was always fatal, even a single bite was enough…

The bite of a Were carried some anomalous toxin. No one ever survived them.

They went quick…

Far too quick in fact. she was gone before they could get there, they never even got a chance to say goodbye.

Alec shook his head, trying to clear the morose thoughts.

She wouldn't want him sulking (She'd always said he did that far too much as it was). Besides she would always tell him moping about it can't change the past, so there was no point to it.

He couldn't change what happened; all he could do is try his best not to let it happen again.

Protect his remaining siblings, protect the other hunters, protect the Ancillaries, protect the humans.

That was what he did; what he had done for the last fifteen years.

It was what he knew; it was a lot b-

_Hey…what's that?_

He sets up a bit, eye catching on a quick flash of bright green and the telltale shimmer and crackle of magic…

_VERY powerful magic,_

He shifts, creeping along the edging of the building, trying to get a better view…

_There it was again!_

A quick glimpse of a bright iridescent green. It seemed to almost glow, making the rest of the surrounding area seem nearly faded and dull.

I-it…_huh…_

The bright, iridescent green was the beings skin…

_Well, that's not something you see every day._

He shifted, moving a bit quicker, jumping lightly to the next building, trying to keep the odd supernatural in his sight. The more he looked the more confusing it became.

_What __**was**__ that?_

The figure was male, fairly tall and lithe. His movements were odd, almost fluid, graceful. he was dressed like he'd just came from some kind of bar or club- tight black jeans that really accentuated hi…_uh-nothing_, a deep, violet shirt in some flowey, silky looking fabric, here and there when he passed beneath streetlights Alec caught the glint of jewelry…

A lot of it.

Multiple necklaces and rings and some kind of silver thing on one ear.

He was most definitely a supernatural…but Alec couldn't for the life of him tell what…

The flashes of power threw him even more than the iridescent green skin. There was the iridescent shimmer that was synonymous with Fae magic, which…_okay_…fair enough. There were a lot of Fae, nothing too odd about that…

But here and there he caught glimpses of what looked like flickers of dancing, violet flames…which were a distinct characteristic of _Demonic_ magic…

_What in the hell?_

He followed along, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, trailing along after the odd being, distantly realizing they were moving into a more rundown, less populated part of the city, passing more than a few rough looking characters, and as always mixed in with the humans were the usual assortment of hidden monsters.

Alec saw a few of the human toughs eyeing the man with faint surprise and calculating looks –

Which made sense. Alec may not know much about fashion or the like but he was pretty sure the man's belt alone costs more than most of Alec's wardrobe…put together…and multiplied _(What? He has better things to spend his money on, like rent…and food- _

_Hey, safeguarding humanity does __**not**__ pay well, alright?)_

As he watched a couple of the human toughs began to move to intercept the man.

_Uh oh_…

If they started a fight the shimmery green man would most definitely be able to finish it…

Probably for good…

Alec began to slip down, trying to get closer to intercept, fighting off a slightly aggravated groan.

Yes, it was his duty to protect humanity; but 'protecting' a group of lowlife thugs from a totally deserved beat-down probably wouldn't be one of his proudest moments. Still, can't just allow a bunch of humans to get their asses handed to them by a being they have no hope against- no matter how much they may actually deserve it. They began to move in front of him, to block his path.

The shimmery man stopped, tilting his head, eyes zeroing in on the apparent leader of the group, saying something in a low, quiet tone. The thug froze, blanching, before he and his cronies practically stumbled out of the shimmery green mans way.

A couple demons standing on a stoop of the neighboring building burst out laughing at their reactions. The odd being turned faintly, facing them.

They froze, mouths snapping shut with an audible click, flickering flames appearing along their shoulders- a bit of a nervous reflex. The shimmery man stared at them for a moment before giving a slight shrug, continuing on his way, the demons slumping slightly in clear relief.

_Oookay…_

_That's probably not a good sign._

_Who the hell IS this guy?_

Alec picked up the pace, following the man around a few more turns, pausing when he peers into the alley below in confusion.

_What?_

_T-this __**is**__ where he turned…_

It's a dead end, no back way out…where could he have possi-

"What are we looking at?"

"_Ahh!"_ Alec startles at the soft voice right by his ear, whirling around, arms wind milling, trying to reclaim his balance, beginning to tumble backwards off the roof, before he's caught, pulled back from the edge by a very strong grip…

"_Whoa, now!_ Last I checked 'Angel blood' does not mean you have the ability to fly…I really don't think we should test that theory."

Alec shook his head,

"Yeah, that wa-" he trailed off, eyes landing on his apparent savior.

_Oh…crap…_

Alec gulped, blinking in surprise,

The odd, iridescent man was standing less than a foot away, head tilted curiously, watching him with a faintly amused smile,

_Woah… _

_SO not expecting that…_

_How the hell can someone make sparkly green skin work like that?!_

_**That should NOT be that attractive!**_

_And…I-is he wearing makeup?_

_He has to be…_

_I mean, no one's just THAT pretty…_

_He did not just think that._

The man was flat out gorgeous. Tall, still a few inches shorter than Alec, but tall nonetheless. From far away he'd looked lithe and slender, but this close-and going by the strong grip halting Alec's fall- it was clear that the man was far stronger than he at first appeared. His features were truly striking. Alec had thought the odd, iridescent green tone would seem weird or cartoonish, but hell if it didn't totally suit the man, setting off his features perfectly.

Sharp cheekbones, highlighted with a faint iridescent shimmer, full, _**unbelievably**_ soft looking, brilliant pinkish red lips that were far too distracting. But the most striking of all his features was his eyes, made all the more prominent with a dramatic, perfectly sharp outline of black kohl. They were a deep, intense violet, flickering and flashing, perfectly echoing the flame like magic he's seen on the man earlier.

Alec gulped again, feeling rooted to the spot.

The man's eyes flickered, head tilting the other way, the move odd, and not entirely human. It's enough to snap Alec out of whatever that was, quickly stepping away from the man, tensing for an attack.

The man quirked his eyebrow, giving a slight chuckle, eyes sparking bright,

"So dramatic…do take a breath, dear. Or at the very least move a safe distance away from the edge. I stopped you from falling once, but if you pass out I don't know that I'd be able to pull you up if you are just dead weight." He paused, eyes flickering, slipping over him, before moving back up, meeting Alec's eyes,

"I am rather strong, but there is _quite_ a lot of you…though must admit, it does make for a hell of a view."

Alec blinked in confusion,

_Huh?_

Alec shook his head,

"W-what are you doing?"

The Man shrugged, tilting his head,

"I really should be asking you that…you have been following me for the last hour and a half."

Alec startled,

"I have n-"

He rolled his eyes, giving a sarcastic look,

"Sweetheart, let's not play that game. You began to follow me on 45th street; you were on the 5th story of the Sunville apartment building, behind the gargoyle statue on the far right hand side."

"I w-"

"Yes you were, don't try that. Hell, twice I had to slow down and circle back so you could find me again…"

A sudden cold feeling trailed up Alec's spine.

"Y-you, why would you purposefully let me follow you?"

The man smirked,

"Why would you be following me?"

"I-I asked you first." Alec tried,

The man gave a surprised laugh, shrugging,

"Fair enough…I lost you over on 38th, then I got a look at you." He paused, quirking his eyebrow, giving a careless wave,

"You were hot, and I was bored, so I figured I'd play along a while."

Alec startled at that (mindfully ignoring the 'hot' comment- he was probably just messing with him anyways)

_Still,_

Alec shook his head faintly,

"Got a look at me? W-"

The man smirked,

"Just FYI, for future reference or surveillance or what have you; the Claussan high-rise has a perfect view of the rooftop of the Rosewood hotel."

Alec blinked

"_I lost you for less than five minutes!_ No way you could have got up there!"

The man chuckled, eyes doing that flickering, flashy thing again,

"Oh sweetheart, I am full of surprises…You'd be _amazed_ by what all I can do…"

Alec glared,

"So, what? You decided to lead me on a wild goose chase just for the hell of it?"

"Pretty much, yeah…"

Alec gave a disbelieving noise,

"I don't buy it, you're up to something. You're just trying to distract me because I caught you."

The man gave a faint laugh, quirking his eyebrow,

"You 'caught' me? Gorgeous, _I'm_ not the one who nearly toppled off the roof. If memory serves I caught you. Saved your life as it were."

Alec flailed slightly

"_Only because you purposefully scared me! _It doesn't count as 'saving someone's life' when their life was only in jeopardy because of you!"

He gave a dismissive wave,

"Semantics darling. There's nothing wrong with admitting you needed a bit of help every now and again."

"_I didn't need help!"_

"Really? Because you just randomly followed a clearly powerful- I'm guessing totally unknown- supernatural for nearly two hours into unfamiliar territory…

Seems rather reckless…I would say you could use a bit of help."

Alec tensed,

"Is that a threat?"

The man chuckled, quirking his eyebrow, eyes flickering, shifting to a more pinkish violet, glimmering bright,

"Darling? I don't threaten. I am just stating the facts. What you did was quite risky, and under different circumstances could have had quite an unpleasant outcome…

You really should be more careful sweetheart." He paused, stepping a bit closer, looking him over appreciatively,

"I would not want anything to happen to you, Alexander."

_Uh oh…_

"H-how do you know my name?" Alec asked, trying to subtly reach for the blade concealed under his jacket, glancing away from the man, feeling along the lining in confusion,

"Did you lose something, dear?"

Alec froze, slowly looking back at the strange man, eyes landing on the oh so familiar weapon in his hand, blade glinting in the moonlight. Alec tensed up, not willing to turn tail and run but not really seeing a way out. The man huffed, rolling his eyes, giving a faint wave with his free hand,

"Oh really now, that is totally uncalled for. I'm not going to keep it; just wanted you to know I _**could**_ get it...

Here." He said flipping it around, holding it out to Alec,

Alec stood perfectly still,

The man huffed, making a slight, graceful gesture, the knife shimmered violet and disappeared, reappearing in Alec's hand. He startled, completely thrown by the sudden shift, the knife slipping from his grasp, clattering against the roof, tumbling over the edge.

_Damnit!_

The shimmering green man quirked his eyebrow,

"Well…if you were just going to throw it away…"

Alec swallowed, trying to regain his courage.

This strange shimmering green supernatural being knew who he was- _knew him by name_…He'd led him on a chase through the city…

_He'd been just a hairs breath away, could have got him…_

_If even half of what he was saying was true could have got him a few times …_

_Stopped him from falling off the roof…_

_Disarmed him, just to show he could, then turned right around and promptly returned his weapon…_

Alec had no idea what the hell was going on, but he was going to find out. He took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders, locking eyes with the strange, unnervingly prett-_**Powerful**_**-** _unnervingly __**powerful**__ man._

"Enough of these games…what are you up to?"

He shrugged,

"I told you darling; I was bored, you were hot…figured it'd be fun..." he smirked, giving a playful wink,

"So far I've been right on the money there."

Alec shook his head, taking a slight step forward,

"I'm not buying it. You know me by name…How?"

He scoffed,

"Darling, you are a 'Lightwood'- the eldest son of one of the two most prominent hunter families in existence. Who DOESN'T know who you are?"

Alec shook his head,

"If that's the case why would you help me?"

The man laughed, giving a faintly amused smirk,

"Not to seem repetitive but _again;_ I was bored, you were hot. I do not think you'd be nearly as pretty after a four story fall. Really my motivation was purely selfish; I was just preserving the eye candy, wanted to enjoy the view a bit more."

Alec blushed faintly but ignored it, refusing to rise to the bait.

"Sure…but what would that matter to you? Even if you did just think I was 'hot'. Why would you save my life? Really, you'd be far better off if you just let me drop."

The man's eyes flashed again, shimmering bright, shaking his head faintly,

"Maybe I just had a pang of empathy and couldn't set by and let someone plummet to their death… Perhaps I am not the monster you think I am…"

Alec tilted his head,

"Or that is just what you want me to think."

The shimmery green man's eyes flickered again, something strange and confusing passing behind those brilliant violet eyes before shuttering. The man giving another dismissive shrug and slight wave,

"Maybe it is… maybe it's not…" He sighed,

"In any case I am getting rather bored again, so I'll just leave you to your contemplation…" he turned, beginning across the roof,

Alec startled, moving quickly to intercept him,

"Hey we're not done here!"

The man turned to face him, giving a faint chuckle, and a dismissive shrug, continuing walking backwards,

"I am…Have a good night Alexander. Do try to keep your head about you. Other beings might not be as easily swayed by the sexy voice and pretty eyes…

This is a very dangerous city after all."

He turned again, beginning to the door to the roof entrance. In a burst of recklessness Alec rushed forward reaching out, catching the door, pushing it back closed, holding it firm.

"No, you have to answer my questions."

The man gave a slight scoff, turning back to him, head tilting in that odd, nearly predatory way, eyes flashing bright,

"I do not 'have' to do a damn thing, and you, _dear_, have no clue who you are dealing with. I. Am. Leaving."

Alec swallowed, shaking his head faintly,

"No. You. Are. Not."

The man's eyes glimmered bright, gaze locking with Alec's.

"You can't stop me."

Alec shrugged,

"I can try."

The man shifted suddenly, catching Alec's arm, dodging quickly, darting around him, Alec caught his arm, spinning him back. The man twisted out of his grasp, slipping down, leg coming around, nearly catching Alec's; he dodged the move on pure instinct.

After that it was a whirl of motion, both darting in, blocking, flipping, deflecting, throwing the other off balance, only for the other to catch their footing, jumping right back in, moving seamlessly into another attack.

It was lightning fast, totally instinctual, and absolutely exhilarating.

Then suddenly Alec saw his opening, reaching forward, catching the man's hand spinning him off balance, right into the side of the stairwell, using his entire body to stop the man's maneuvering. He tightened his grip on the man's hand, turning the grip, pinning his wrist against the wall, a bit above the man's head. Alec caught the other hand, raising it as well, pinning it firm, The man gasped, tugging faintly against the grip, but to no avail, blinking in surprise, breath coming fast and uneven,

_Ha! Got him!_

Alec pressed in a bit firmer, trying to catch his own breath, closing his eyes, taking a few deep breaths, trying to steady his heart rate. He glanced up, catching the man's eyes, and froze,

_Oh…wow…h-he…umm…he may not have thought this through…_

He has the guy pinned, he can't get away…

But neither can Alec…

Alec swallowed, eyes flickering from the bright shimmering violet eyes to his unbelievably soft looking pinkish red lips…

Alec felt his heart rate pick up a bit, heard the man's breath hitch. He leaned up, lips brushing against Alec's, just the faintest tease of a touch before pulling back slightly. Alec gasped, leaning down, chasing after his lips, catching them again, nipping lightly at his lower lip before pressing forward into a full, deep, passionate kiss.

The guy gave a soft whimper like sound, responding, pressing closer. His hands shifted faintly, catching Alec's, entangling their fingers, squeezing tight. Alec felt a dizzying, electric buzz clear to his toes. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt.

_**Damn**__…that was just incredible…_

_It was hot and intoxicating…like a living heat…a fire…it was almost lik-_

_**Oh crap!**_

_It was the man's power_

_His Magic…_

_THAT was the buzzing, electric, intoxicating feeling…_

_It was freaking magic!_

_**Magic**__ because he was __**making out **__with a shimmery green supernatural man!_

_**What the hell!?**_

Alec gasped, pulling away as if he were burned, shaking his head, rubbing at his face trying to get his head on straight…

_What the hell was he doing? He was making out on a rooftop with a shimmery gre-…_

_Umm…w-wait?_

Alec blinked in confusion,

The man was green…with violet eyes…

_He knows he was…_

_It's kinda hard to miss something like that…_

_So…why is the man in front of him now a shimmery, iridescent hot pink, with electric green eyes?_

Alec gulps, taking a couple steps back, moving towards the edge of the building, keeping a clear line of sight on the now shimmery pink man…

_Oookay…h-he's not sure what's going on, but randomly changing colors is probably not a good sign…_

'_And you, dear, have no clue who you are dealing with.'_

The man's words suddenly floated back to him…

That was without a doubt, the truth...

He's most definitely never heard of a supernatural that randomly changed colors…he had no clue who this guy was- _**what**_ this guy was.

_What he was capable of…_

He also had no clue what the radical color change thing was about…

But he kinda doubted it was anything good…

And he didn't think it was a good idea to stick around to find out.

He took a few more steps back, putting a bit of distance between him and the color changing man, before turning, taking a few running steps darting over and off the edge of the building, landing on the next rooftop, hitting the grown, running flat out, quickly making his way back home, halfway wondering if this was all some bizarre dream...

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_**Angelus Sanguis**_

_**(Angel Blood)**_

_**Ancillaries =**_ Hunters assistants

**Ancillary:** Those that help the hunters with research, tech, all the random stuff that isn't just fighting/killing things…kinda looked down on (Even though they're indispensable) saw basically as sidekicks…

Kay couple things; in this one I kind of decided Alec and Izzy would be twins (fraternal twins), I think the dynamic will work well in this world.

This one is gonna have a bit of a different feel I think, but it's gonna be really unique and interesting. Even though this verse just popped into my head like last week, I have a ton of ideas, twists and turns planned.

I was going to add a second part to this chapter but I actually think this is a good place to stop so we'll pick up with chapter 2

_So what do you guys think so far?_

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* 21 *


	2. 2- What Dreams May Come…

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_**Chapter 2:**_

_**What Dreams May Come**__**…**_

Chapter Complete!

Alec can't get the kiss out of his head...

Alec has yet ANOTHER confusing encounter that just leads to more questions

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

_Alec swallowed, eyes flickering from the bright shimmering violet eyes to his unbelievably soft looking pinkish red lips…his heart rate picking up a bit at the sound of the man's breath hitching. _

_He leaned up, lips brushing lightly against Alec's, just the faintest tease of a touch before pulling back. Alec gasped, unable to help leaning down, chasing after his lips, catching them again, nipping lightly at his lower lip before pressing forward into a full, deep, passionate kiss._

_The guy gave a soft whimper like sound, responding, pressing closer. His hands shifted faintly, catching Alec's, entangling their fingers, squeezing tight. Alec felt a dizzying, electric buzz clear to his toes. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt._

_**Damn**__…that was just incredible…_

Alec gasped, startling awake, trying to shake off the dizzying, breathless feeling…

_**Damnit…**_

Every freaking night for the last week he'd had the same dream- memory- whatever you wanted to call it. Ever since his encounter with the strange shimmery, color changing man. He just couldn't get it out of his head.

And it wasn't the oddness of the encounter or the blatantly obvious power the man possessed, or even how easily he could have gotten the drop on Alec, took him out. It wasn't the danger or the threat or the totally warranted fear at such a close encounter with a clearly dangerous, totally unknown supernatural…

_It was that __**damn**__ kiss._

Every night this week he'd woken up breathless, feeling that dizzying, electric buzz clear down to his toes. He was beginning to think it was a kind of spell or enchantment.

Yeah, the guy had been gorgeous…if he was honest the man was probably easily the most beautiful person Alec had ever seen _(Shimmery green or hot pink skin notwithstanding)_, and in truth the entire situation was a bit of an adrenaline rush. It would stand to reason it might stick in his mind …but this was downright excessive.

He just could not shake the memory of that kiss.

_And that was the thing…there was SO much more he should be focusing on about the encounter. _

The reaction of the human thugs…the reaction of the freaking Demons. Both groups looked near terrified of the man.

To reiterate; a gang of thugs and a pack of _**literal**_ demons seemed terrified of one lone, pretty, bejeweled man who looked like he just stepped out of a photo shoot at a club.

_That was NOT normal…even by supernatural standards._

The man had purposefully led him on a nearly two hour long chase throughout the city. He had gotten close enough he could have taken Alec out several times, been close enough to literally whisper in Alec's ear _(Had actually done exactly that)._ Going so far as to disarm Alec- just to show he could…

Willingly handed Alec's weapon back, clearly showing he saw Alec as no threat.

He saved Alec's life, keeping him from falling four stories.

The man knew him by name…and yeah the Lightwoods were fairly well known in hunting/supernatural circles, but he knew him just from sight.

_And he called him 'Alexander', not Alec. _

The only people who called him 'Alexander' were his parents (Or his siblings when they wanted to annoy him because they knew how it irked him and set his teeth on edge when his parents did.)

And then there was the oddity that was the man himself. He had no clue what the hell the guy actually was.

Nothing about him made sense. The shimmery violet sparkles was Fae magic, but he knows without a shadow of a doubt he saw flickering violet flames here and there…and that's demonic…

_That is ONLY demonic magic…_

_It's baffling is what it is…_

He's searched through every resource he had on Supernaturals- _twice _\- and still came up empty handed. He found a few things here and there that kind of sounded partly like him. There were reports of some Fae who change color with the seasons, and a few types of demons with chameleon like camouflaging abilities, but neither of those really sounded like the man from the roof. The colors most definitely weren't meant to hide or blend and the rapid, drastic color change sounded nothing like the gradual transition of colors described for the Fae.

He'd nearly broke down and asked Simon to see if he could find something about him. Ancillaries were far better at the whole research/info side of the fight than hunters- and really Simon was probably the best he's ever worked with, but he'd ultimately decided against it.

He actually really liked the guy, even if he was a bit hyper and overly excitable, and he knew Simon- despite his chattiness- was in fact completely trustworthy when it came to secrets. He was actually one of the only people besides his siblings who knew Alec was gay. Which totally shocked Alec by the way.

The guy was surprisingly intuitive; one of the many, _many_ things so well hidden by the chatty/flailingness that was so purely 'Simon'. Actually, given some of the things he's learned about the guy over the two years he's known him he had a time where he was partly convinced the whole flailing, dorky 'thing' was in actually some kind of an elaborate cover…

Then he saw the guy trip while standing still- multiple times, stumble into a rack of weapons, and go on a near hour long explanation of why Star Trek was totally different than Star Wars and an _additional_ hour on why Wars was clearly the better one...

_Yeah, either it's not an act or the dude needs to give up the whole hunter/ancillary thing and move to Hollywood to become an actor as his talents are totally wasted here…_

Alec hadn't even came out to him- in fact he thought he kept it pretty well hidden. But when Dax, the last guy he was seeing (He never referred to it as dating as it was never anything even close to that) left, moving to California to take a job working for his Senator father, Simon had taken him aside and told him he was sorry his boyfriend left and if he needed to talk or vent or whatever he was there. It was actually really touching _(You know, after his initial freak out that the chattery, hyperactive, flailing ancillary knew his biggest- and pretty much only- secret)._

Simon had waved him off, reassuring him that it wasn't anything obvious or the like, he just picked up on things like that, and since he was interested in guys too he figured Alec would appreciate knowing he had someone he could really talk to about that kind of thing. Once again it was very sweet but kinda confusing (Simon in a nutshell).

It'd thrown Alec how casual he was about it, making Alec wonder if that was Simon's way of trying to hint he was interested. Alec spent nearly two weeks trying to come up with a nice way to let the guy down easy, only getting as far as 'Simon you're really cute-' before being cut off by a torrent of rambling, stumbling words and flailing, animated gestures, which all boiled down to 'I like you but not in _that_ way'…So at least they were on the same page there.

After that they'd actually became pretty close friends. It kind of surprised him how easy it was to talk to the guy; he ended up confiding in him far more than he would have thought…

Even so, 'I kinda made out with this ridiculously pretty color changing, magical dude on a rooftop and I don't know what he was and I can't get it- specifically the kiss- out of my mind…any ideas' was a bit trickier to bring up. He could try to just mention the whole color changing, oddly mixed powers thing but like he said, Simon was surprisingly intuitive. He'd know there was more to it, and for all of the nerdy, chattery, flailing charm, the guy could be downright relentless when he set his mind to something.

He'd know there's more and while the guy may be totally good with Alec being gay and Alec kissing guys- Alec kissing a _**supernatural**_ guy was a whole different story.

Fraternizing with Supernaturals would get you in a lot of trouble with the hunters and the Council. It wasn't just 'frowned on' like homosexuality or that kind of thing, it was outright forbidden. Which was totally understandable- they were the enemy, the ultimate enemy; _**literal**_ monsters- Werecreatures, demons, goblins and more- hiding in plain sight, preying on innocent, totally oblivious humans.

Simon was a great guy, and really understanding- he wouldn't betray a friend for most anything. But if he thought Alec was having doubts, had sympathy for the enemy…heaven forbid if he thought Alec was thinking of actually siding with the enemy…well…there's only so far 'understanding' would go. Besides Alec wouldn't want to put the guy in the position of deciding between betraying a friend or betraying his people. Not that Alec would ever do that anyways, but he was having trouble wording it in a way where even to _him_ it sounded like his interest in finding out about the man was purely professional/intellectual.

_It all came back to that __**damned**__ kiss…_

_Why did he do it? Why did Alec kiss him back? And why the hell couldn't he get the memory of that electric buzz, the dizzying heat or those brilliant, kaleidoscopic, flickering eyes out of his mind?_

He groaned, setting up, rubbing aggravatedly at his eyes, trying once more to banish the memory of those hypnotic eyes, that dizzying, thrilling buzz or that soft, breathy little whimper like sound the gorgeous man made when he'd all but melted into the kiss.

Alec groaned again louder, irritatedly tossing back the covers, padding across the room to grab some of his workout clothes, deciding to hit the gym for a bit of time with the heavy bag before he started his patrols for the day- usually it helped him clear his mind.

_Not that it'd done much good any other day this week…_

No question about it, he needed to find some answers. People were gonna start wondering what's up if he's in there every day. Though in general people tend to take someone pummeling the hell out of a heavy bag for two hours straight as a sign to mind their own business…

Still it was just a matter of time till someone with no tact (Simon), no boundaries (Jace) or who he had no resistance to (Max) took notice.

_Yeah…he needed answers…and he needed them soon. _

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

_Ugh…what a long, pointless patrol._

He spent most of the evening working around the outskirts of the city, making his way towards Brooklyn Bridge park and the beginnings of River View Mall. It was started a decade ago but midway through construction the company folded, the area left all but untouched. It changed hands a few times, but nothing ever came from it. There were even rumors it was cursed or even haunted _(The fact it ran right up against an old cemetery really didn't help with that)._ There were more than a few accounts of strange sights or sounds…little more than rumors and urban legends. No one took it seriously. Really it was just kinda a fun place to scare your friends or give someone an excuse to get a bit closer to a crush.

Even so in the last week the odd reports had ramped up. Someone at headquarters decided it was worth a look, just to be on the safe side. He really had no idea how he drew the short straw here…he's blaming lack of sleep and kiss preoccupation.

He'd put it off till the end of his patrol, kinda hoping he'd get something more interesting and be able to scrap this part but no such luck. The rest of the night had been totally uneventful and now he was stuck wandering through an abandoned construction site and a creepy cemetery at 1:30 in the morning…

_Yeah…h-he didn't really think this one through…_

He pulled his jacket a bit closer as the wind kicked up, whistling lightly through the trees branches, the only other sound the crunch of the leaves under his heavy combat boots.

He was _**so**_ not used to this; he was a city boy, always had been. Totally accustomed to the tall looming buildings, crowds and lights, the ever present hustle and bustle (He wasn't really BIG on the whole crowds thing but it was just an ever present part of city life). This though? This was completely different. The quiet stillness, the dark nearly completely unencumbered by artificial lights, the speckling of stars he could glimpse through the wisps of clouds. It was like stepping into a different world.

He wasn't entirely sure he liked it…there was just something off about it. Objectively it might be kind of peaceful; the break from the noise and hurly burly but there was something about this place that set his teeth on edge.

It just didn't _feel_ right.

_Geez, no wonder people think the place is haunted._

He was totally alone out here, but it did not feel like it…he had the odd prickling sensation of eyes on him. The utter silence was starting to get to him, making him startle at the slightest breeze through the trees or cricket chirp, the thump of his own heartbeat in his ears seeming unnaturally loud.

_This was j-_

"_Scree!"_

_**What the hell was that!?**_

He jerked around, grabbing his back up knife, ready for an attack, frantically looking from side to side for the threat, eyes slowly trailing up, falling on the source of the blood curdling scream like sound. Two large, luminous orangish gold eyes glaring at him, a glimpse of grayish brown fur through sharp, deadly looking talons.

Alec relaxed, huffing faintly, rolling his eyes at himself before glaring right back at the damn owl in the tree, flipping his hand agitatedly.

"_Was that really necessary?_ You got your damn mouse did you actually have to announce it to the world?" He snapped, before realizing he's currently standing on the edge of a cemetery at 2am angrily shouting at a bird.

_Oookay…the silence must be getting to him…_

The owl tilted its head, seemingly in agreement,

"Oh shut up…" he muttered, shaking his head once more, slipping his knife back into the hidden sheath beneath his jacket, quickly moving on, making his way away around the edge of the cemetery.

Stupid bird…why the hell was that thing so damn loud? Weren't owls supposed to be like quiet and wise? They're not supposed to shriek like a freaking banshee. Maybe that's the weird sounds people are hearing? He could definitely see someone reading that wrong…and they are pretty big. I mean if that thing swooped over head without warning he could see that being alarming, someone not registering it was just a bird…

_Yeah…that's probably it._

Especially if they were in the mindset, already looking to be scared. This place was almost unnaturally silent, you couldn't hear much of anything but your footfalls on the leaves and the sound of your own breath. It wa-

_W-wait…_

_That wasn't HIS breath…_

Alec swallowed, continuing his pace, trying not to show an outward reaction. He held his breath.

The breathing was still there.

Harsh, a bit heavy, tilting his head he could pick up the faint crunch of leaves, it was mostly masked by his own, the footfalls seemingly matched, but they were definitely there…

And it wasn't just one. He could hear the sounds from at least five locations…the breathing was louder now…and closer.

Quite a bit closer.

_Okay…maybe pick up the pace…_

Alec sped up a bit, so did the steps behind him, they weren't in sync now, the breathing now clearly panting. He reached into his jacket again retrieving his knife, the foot falls sped up, a low near subsonic growl cutting through the still night air.

Alec ducked just in time, the creatures attack just barely missing him, it sailed over his head. Hitting the ground, it turned back facing him, growling, teeth bared, foam and drool dripping from the large open mouth, glowing red eyes gleaming in the dark. Two identical sets of eyes shimmered into focus, cutting through the darkness flanking the first, tongues lolling out past sharp jagged fangs. The growling behind him intensified, spreading out, interspersed with a sound somewhere between a bark and a hiss…

_W-what…_

_H-how is that even…_

_That's not possible…It's not…_

_I-_

_Oooh crap…_

_It is…_

_It's NOT possible…_

_Yet it is…_

_Canisumbra…_

_Oh wow…this is bad._

Canisumbra were vicious, deadly hell beasts. They weren't Supernaturals; there was nothing even remotely human there. They were vicious pack animals; an unholy combination of a predatory lizard and a hyena…

And that wasn't even the worst of it…

Canisumbra were shadow creatures- beings that could materialize and dematerialize at will. They were quick, vicious and absolutely deadly. He'd never heard of someone walking away from a Canisumbra attack- never even heard of a firsthand account of one…

They never left survivors.

Everything known about the creatures came from a few bits of captured footage and the examination of the bodies left behind. Even with that they were never thought to be a feasible threat…not unless someone was actively looking for them, wandering into places better left alone.

He'd never heard any reports of them anywhere near a living, thriving modern civilization. Canisumbra only ever lived in extremely dense forests, occasionally cropping up around ancient, abandoned settlements and all those old, forgotten places abandoned by modern humans, reclaimed by the wilderness around them.

_Why was there a pack of Canisumbra on the edge of Brooklyn?_

He didn't know…and he didn't think he'd live long enough to find the answer.

This was the end…

It had to be…

He didn't know how to fight _one_ Canisumbra... the pack had nine.

His hand trembled as his grip tightened on his knife. He swallowed, looking around fearfully as the pack encircled him, teeth gnashing and snapping, those terrifying yipping, hissing, growls filling the air, moving closer. He crouched, readying for the attack.

Three of the beasts surged forward at once, jaws open wide. He threw his arm up, trying to block his head and neck, eyes squeezing shut involuntarily, trying to brace for the blow as best he could…

The blow never came.

He heard a few sudden sharp yelps and loud thumps followed by a sizzling sound. He blinked his eyes open, startling at a shimmering undulating violet wall surrounding him, dancing and sparking like flames separating him from the circling, snapping beasts. glancing up he sees an odd, dizzying nearly black violet storm cloud like mass churning, rolling and flashing about three feet above his head,

_What in the…_

He shook his head, glancing to the side, startling again, pointing,

"_You!" _

"Yup, me…"

The shimmery green man glanced over, flashing a quick smirk and a twinkling little wave before shifting his focus from Alec to the circling hell beasts. As Alec watched two of them charged the barrier throwing themselves full force into the wall. The barrier flashed like lightning glowing where they connected. The creatures made a pained yelped, skittering away, skin singed and smoking.

Shimmery green guy glanced over again, giving a falsely casual shrug,

"So…how are things?"

Alec sputtered gesturing towards the pissed off, circling beasts.

"Oh you know… there's a pack of Canisumbra somehow on the outskirts of one of the most densely populated cities in the country pretty well set on making me their next meal…

Oh yeah, and I'm currently in some weird electrified force field type thing with an insanely powerful, totally unknown supernatural,

Other than that, just peachy."

The green man chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

"Hmm…sarcastic and pretty…my favorite combination."

Alec huffed, once again gesturing at the creatures,

"_Is an attack by literal hellhounds REALLY the right time for flirting?!"_

He shrugged,

"Eh flirting is like tea, there's always time for it.

Though you have a point, really should stay focused…no matter how very appealing the distraction is. Incidentally I can only keep the field up for about five more minutes before the projection negatively impacts my abilities, I'm dropping it in three, you should probably prepare."

"_**Prepare!**__ Prepare how?!_ I've never seen an account of someone surviving a fight with one Canisumbra- there are NINE-"

"I know, I can count."

Alec gave an aggravated groan, eyes darting around at the creatures still circling.

"How can I eve-"

"With this."

The man snapped his fingers, a gleaming black blade shimmering into existence, holding it out to Alec,

"This is a Wileere Blade- it's perfectly balanced, made of onyx, quarts, amethyst and cerician and treated with hemlock and devilwood along with a healthy dose of magic… it will cut through literally anything, one cut will put them out.

They are not immortal, just difficult to kill. They have to be corporeal in order to attack, but they'll stay hidden as long as possible, you have to be quick. Don't rely on sight; listen, feel, trust your instincts, not your sight. I've fought them, I am still here- it can be done. I have fought things you have never even heard of; these are child's play in comparison. I'll be able to take most of them. Stay close, stay behind me, watch my back. Don't go on the offensive, one attacks, you defend, that's it, otherwise leave it to me.

_Clear?"_

Alec swallowed, biting back something embarrassingly close to a whimper, nodding slowly,

He gave a quick, somewhat reckless smile, eyes flashing in interest, clearly catching Alec's reaction, the look nearly as heated as the flames surrounding them. It made Alec's pulse jump in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with the danger,

_Damn…that was just…_

_Okay stop…_

_Seriously time and place Alec…_

_Still…_

_DAMN…_

"Mmm…very good. Any other questions before all hell breaks loose?"

Alec took a deep centering breath, reaching for the blade, quickly testing the balance before meeting the man's eyes, giving a slight nod,

"What's your name?"

He gave a short, surprised laugh, shrugging,

"Magnus."

With that he turned, Alec followed suit, situating himself behind the gr- Magnus, taking a defensive stance, readying for what was to come. Magnus's hands shimmered, the wall of flames flickering and fading.

The first beast leapt forward, coming in from the left. Magnus raised his hand, a sharp burst of energy firing out, the creature falling to the ground, dead weight. Two howled, charging forward, two more bolts leaving them as little more than a smoking heap. The remaining creatures growled circling, flickering out of view. Alec tensed readying for the attack, trying to listen rather than just look. One from the right, bolt. Another two crack, these out of his view.

_Okay down to three, that m-_

Alec heard the growl off to the right a second before the creature materialized mere inches away. He brought the blade up, catching the creature. It howled and yelped, the wound smoking and sizzling, the creature snarling before crumpling to the ground.

_Ooh…this could work,_

He tilted his head, listening for any hint,

There! Just to the left, he brought the blade down just as the beast appeared, catching it in the shoulder, slashing across, Alec dodged out of the way of the falling beast, keeping close to Magnus's back, just in time to see a blindingly bright bolt surge out of his hand, catching the last creature it absolutely disintegrating, leaving nothing but a few ashes scattering with the breeze.

Alec blinked, taking a deep breath. He shook his head, swallowing, glancing over at the other man, quirking his eyebrow,

"I don't think you're getting your knife back."

Magnus chuckled with a dismissive wave,

"Keep it; I have plenty…as long as you don't throw _this_ one off a roof as well. I don't have enough to cover all of Brooklyn."

Alec gave a short scoffing laugh,

"I didn't thr-…i-it doesn't matter. Thank you Magnus, you saved my life, there's really no way I could've made it out of this without your help…" he paused, taking a deep breath, shaking his head in confusion,

"But once again…why? Why did you help me? I really don't understand…"

Magnus shrugged,

"There is nothing to understand…you needed help…I helped. I know you think there's some big Machiavellian plan going on here but you are just reading far too much into it. They could not be allowed to reach the city, it would be chaos."

Alec shook his head,

"But why did you save _**me?**_ Killing the canisumbra makes sense, but I'm your enemy, Supernaturals hate hunters and vice versa. Why would you go out of your way to save the life of an enemy? And how did you even know I was in trouble…

Were you following me?"

Magnus chuckled, shrugging with a playful smirk,

"Just think of me as your guardian angel."

Alec scoffed,

"You're no angel."

Magnus gave a soft, sultry chuckle that kinda made Alec's knees weak, eyes slipping all the way down Alec before moving slowly back up meeting his eyes, flashing a quick wink,

"Got that right gorgeous…I'm a hell of a lot more fun."

Alec couldn't help a faint blush at that, sputtering,

Magnus chuckled, smirking again before raising his hand, snapping his fingers, the air next to him shimmering and flickering, looking like the blackish violet storm cloud from before.

He flashed one last wink before turning, gracefully leaping into the swirling, churning cloud. It spun and roiled faster and faster, streaked through with electric violet lightning. Suddenly there was a loud clap of thunder, and near blinding flash.

Alec blinked against the startlingly brilliant light trying to get his vision to adjust. When it did he was alone, the area once again still and silent, the only sound the faint rustle of a breeze and his own heartbeat thumping in his ears.

He looked around uncomprehendingly, almost wondering if he'd somehow hallucinated that. May have thought that if it wasn't for the eight faintly singed spots in the grass where the Ceridian had fell and the odd black blade.

He held it up, examining it closer, feeling the solid weight in his hand.

_Okay…so…that happened…_

_H-he's not entirely sure what the hell 'that' WAS…but it did actually happen._

_On the plus side at least THIS was something he could tell Simon about…_

_If anything maybe now he'll get some answers…_

_He even had a name…_

_Magnus…_

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _End Of Chapter Notes_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

_**Shadow hounds – Canisumbra **_(It's the Latin words smooched together)

We're just gonna say when canisumbra die they demateralize kay?

Magnus to the rescue!

Think Alec's in for a few more distracting dreams lol…

So, what do you think?

* 18 *


	3. Chapter 3-Gossip Boys

_***-**__*****__**-**__*****__**-**__*****__**-**__*****__**-**__*****__**-**__*****__**-**__*****__**-**__**M**__**o**__**n**__**s**__**t**__**e**__**r**__**s**__** A**__**n**__**d**____**M**__**y**__**t**__**h**__**s **__**V**__**e**__**r**__**s**__**e**__*****__**-**__*****__**-**__*****__**-**__*****__**-**__*****__**-**__*****__**-**__*****__**-***_

_**Chapter 3:**_

_**Gossip Boys**_

_**(Couldn't Resist)**_

_Chapter Complete!_

_**Alec and Simon Talk about the attack- and Alec's sparkly green guardian angel**__**…**_

_**Simon Has an Idea How they might be able to find out more about Magnus**__**…**__**but it's kinda risky.**_

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

"…And then he just jumped into the swirling cloud like thing and disappeared." Alec finished with a shrug, trying to seem like his freaking out was just about the weird supernatural goings on and random shadow creatures as opposed to his insanely pretty, scarily powerful, way too flirty 'guardian angel'…

_Who was admittedly __**definitely**__ no angel…_

Alec glanced away, rubbing nervously at the back of his neck, trying to ignore that train of thought. He shook his head faintly, trying to keep his mind from wandering back and concentrate on the task at hand. They were currently setting in his room at the institute. Figured it was the best place for them to talk without anyone overhearing. Their quarters were about the only private space available. True, they were a bit cramped, and honestly kinda stark and bare (admittedly his slightly more than most) but it was a fair bit better than trying to talk about it out in one of the common areas and risking someone overhearing. This topic was uncomfortable enough to talk about with just one person who he truly trusts.

Definitely don't want to add anyone else to the mix…

He turned faintly, glancing over at Simon setting on the desk chair next to the bed.

"So…what do you think S-

Simon?" he paused, tilting his head, looking the ancillary over worriedly.

He looked almost frozen, eyes wide, mouth slightly hanging open. Alec leaned forward a bit, waving his hand in front of his face,

"Simon? Buddy…you alright there? W-"

He suddenly unfroze, bouncing up excitedly, flailing

"Dude! Oh my god! That is SO freaking cool! W-h-how-when…That is so freaking awesome! You fought Canisumbra- a whole pack of them! And met a crazy powerful Supernatural who protected you and fought with you-not against you but like _with_ you! Like joining forces against a pack of terrifying, slobbering, teleporting death! And you actually survived! You're here and okay and you even have a crazy, enchanted knife to prove it!

That the sparkly green guy gave you!

Like as a gift!

_That is SO freaking cool!" _He bounced slightly, turning more towardsAlec giving a hopeful, pleading look,

Can I see the knife? _Please?_ I promise I won't break it or drop it or trip over it, I'll be careful? Please Alec?" he finished breathlessly,

Alec chuckled, rolling his eyes, reaching into the bag under his bed, holding it out for Simon to examine. Simon blinked, big golden brown eyes wide and amazed, carefully examining the odd, black blade.

"Oh wow…this is amazing. I've seen mentions of Wileere Blades but it never had a description; just said if someone had one to get the hell away from them…which was SO not helpful when they didn't say anything about what they looked like. Wow! Look along the blade, you can see different elements forged together; see how the edge has a violet tint? It's so thin you can almost see through it! And the carving on the handle? It's a spell; Fae, _very_ old magic. And this on the end, the fire orange stone? I could be wrong but I think its cerician- it's a demonic element; _really_ rare, used for protection spells…"

Alec nodded, leaning closer,

"Yeah he did mention it had cerician in it; also amethyst, quarts and a few other things, sounds about right."

Again Simon flailed; Alec reached over steadying the hand holding the knife,

"I'm fairly sure the thing is pretty much indestructible but I don't really want to test that theory…also as one cut was enough to take out a freaking canisumbra I really don't want to see what one'll do to us."

Simon pulled back a bit, nodding sheepishly, clearly trying to tramp down his excitement,

"Right, sorry…I just…wow…I never thought I'd actually get to see one of these, not in real life, much less actually get to examine one. I've never even seen an actual _description_ of one. And this Magnus not only let you keep it but actually told you about it, like what it was made of and everything? What else did he say about it?"

Alec shrugged

"I don't know…I remember quartz and amethyst and treating with like, wormwood or hemlock…something like that and magic."

Simon huffed, rolling his eyes,

"Alec! How could you not listen?! He's telling you about one of like, the coolest, rarest weapons in the supernatural arsenal! I'd of been hanging on every word. Probably taking literal notes."

Alec huffed slightly, shrugging, giving a kind of flippant wave,

"Simon, we were being circled by a pack of hellhounds, and he was getting ready to drop the flame shield thing; I was a little distracted. I didn't know what it was; I'd never heard of a Wileere Blade. He just said it would work against them and that he'd fought things that made canisumbra look practically harmless. As I'd never even heard of someone surviving an attack by one and this was a pack of nine I wasn't really in a position to argue, just hoped like hell he was telling the truth.

Which…yeah that was definitely not the first time he'd fought them, he took them out like they were nothing…

I-it was…."

Simon paused, tilting his head,

"Kinda hot?"

It was Alec's turn to flail, shaking his head quickly, scoffing, rolling his eyes, waving him off,

"What?! No! I didn't say that…it was insane! It was a fight to the death with a pack of demonic shadow hellhounds! There's nothing 'hot' about that!"

Simon snorted, rolling his eyes right back, quirking his eyebrow sarcastically,

"There's nothing 'hot' about a gorgeous guy magically dropping out of the sky to save you from a pack of terrifying, pissed off, slobbering death?

Dude? Come on.

That's like Knight in shining armor stuff right there. Pretty sure you're, like required to at least offer a kiss for thanks."

Alec glared,

"Okay one that makes me basically a damsel in distress, which I am not. And two that's kinda sexist to expect a kiss in return for helping someone.

…also the last time Jace tried that line on one of the girls in combat training he ended up tied to a tree with his own tactical climbing rope. Not cool."

Simon chuckled, shrugging, settling in, holding up a finger,

"Okay counter? First off, that's Jace…totally different set of rules when that jackass is involved-"

Alec shook his head,

"H-"

Simon waved him off,

"I know, I know, little brother, not that bad, he'll grow out of it, blah, blah, blah. Still applies, moving on.

Next, 'Damsel in distress' is stereotyping... we're well into the 21st century; anyone can rescue anyone they want, gender has nothing to do with it.

Lastly agreed, however the outdated thing doesn't apply if you actually want to kiss the rescuer…which, come on dude; you SO obviously do."

Alec blinked,

"I-what?! I do not! And how do you know he was 'gorgeous'? I never said that! I said green and sparkly, totally different."

Simon quirked his eyebrow, smirking,

"But apparently not mutually exclusive."

"W-ugh…no…you don't know what you're talking about. He was a shimmery green supernatural guy, how is that hot?"

Simon grinned,

"Don't know…I didn't see him…but you did….and you _obviously_ liked what you saw."

"I did not!"

"Alec…you're blushing."

Alec sputtered,

"I am not! It's just hot in here! Y-you know what? You're insane, reading way too much into this. It was a crazy situation, there was a lot of really intense moments, I don't want to kiss him again a-"

"_**Again!?"**_

Alec froze, blinking,

_Damnit…knew he shouldn't have told Simon._

_Underneath that cute, geeky, totally nonthreatening exterior is a sneaky, __**sneaky**__, scarily sharp mind._

Alec sighed, glaring faintly,

"You did that on purpose damnit."

Simon rolled his eyes,

"Yeah…of course I did…serves you right for trying to keep a secret from your best friend for an entire week."

Alec sputtered,

"_How the hell did you know about the kiss on the roof? _Seriously if you have a weird psychic thing going you need to tell me."

Simon quirked his eyebrow,

"Umm…I didn't…I just knew something was bothering you and you were keeping it from me."

Alec deflated faintly, sighing, slumping, glancing away,

"Oh…"

Simon sighed, standing up, moving over, settling next to him on the bed, nudging his shoulder, glancing over with a gentle smile,

"Alec…you know I don't care that you kissed a guy right? I mean we did that whole awkward confession thing once; we don't need, like, a refresher course or whatever do we? I kinda thought once was bad enough."

That surprised a laugh out of Alec; he shook his head, rolling his eyes faintly,

"Yeah, no…once was more than enough, thanks."

Simon nodded, quirking his eyebrow,

"Kay…so…why didn't you tell me?"

Alec shrugged, giving a kind of hopeless wave,

"I knew you wouldn't have a problem with the guy thing. But the supernatural thing is another matter entirely."

"Really, why?"

Again Alec sputtered,

"What do you mean 'why'? It's totally different. The guys a supernatural, the enemy…and I don't even know what the hell he is and I can't get it out of my head and it's not even the danger he so obviously could be or the oddness of a supernatural saving my life- twice now- or the weird, mixed up magic, or the demons and thugs that looked terrified of him or any of the rest…

It's just the damn kiss I can't get out of my head.

And I don't know why. I was starting to think it might be some kind of spell or something…and I still kind of think that but I don't know and it's just really driving me nuts and I kind of thought you'd think it was driving me nuts because I wanted the guy or that I was somehow gonna, like betray everyone and everything I know or care about just for a crazy pretty color changing dude in club wear and way too much jewelry…

a-and…

I don't know.

I just really don't know what the hell's going on here and I don't know how to deal with it. And I know I'm loyal and I think you know me well enough to know I am but I didn't want to put you in the position of having to choose between siding with me or doing what's right."

Simon gave a soft laugh, shaking his head faintly,

"Alec? I do know you…I know you better than most anyone. There's no chance of me ever having to choose between siding with you or doing what's right because they are always gonna be the same thing. You always do what's right. And just so you know? Whatever it is, whatever the circumstances, whether you can tell me every last detail or absolutely nothing, I am always on your side. _Always_, without question, alright?"

Alec blinked, swallowing faintly, nudging his shoulder, giving a warm smile,

"Thanks Simon… By the way? Same here."

Simon shrugged, giving a casual, wave

"Yeah, I know."

Alec chuckled, rolling his eyes, rubbing at his face, feeling a bit of the tension of the last week ease up, relieved to have someone to finally talk this over with. He really should've gone to Simon right off the bat, should have known it'd be fine. He sighed, looking over asking the question that's been stuck in his mind for the last week.

"What if I am spelled?"

Simon shook his head, waving him off,

"I really don't think that's the case. I guess it's possible, from what you said about this Magnus guy he sounds, like insanely powerful, but just being preoccupied with a kiss would be a total waste of a spell. If he could do a spell that lasted this long, was that powerful he could've done a hell of a lot more. I mean he could have made you do anything…" Simon rolled his eyes, waving frantically,

"Ugh…alright stop with the blushing, I didn't mean _that_…I meant evil, scheming enemy 'anything'…not fun, naughty, sexytimes 'anything'. Get your mind out of the gutter, we're being serious here."

Alec laughed, relaxing, nudging his shoulder, rolling his eyes,

"When are you ever just 'being serious'?"

Simon laughed, nudging him back, giving a flippant wave,

"Hey there's a first time for everything."

He sobered a bit, smile a tad less bright but no less real, reaching over, patting Alec's shoulder, squeezing gently,

"Alec, you're fine. You're not spelled. You saw a hot guy, got caught up in a moment and apparently kissed him - I'm guessing pretty thoroughly- on a roof somewhere. That's not a crime; it's not a betrayal or a sin or whatever else. It's just hormones and a hot dude.

Not the end of the world.

Hell, you think you're the only person ever distracted by the hotness of a supernatural? _They're almost all hot!_ Okay, maybe not the ones with terrifying claws or fangs, or lizard heads or whatever but, like, three quarters of them are total knockouts. I'm pretty sure hotness is like a byproduct of Magic, or maybe it's a prerequisite.

Whatever it is a lot of them have it.

Stop beating yourself up, you didn't do anything wrong. You got distracted by a pretty boy, you kissed, apparently he liked the kiss enough to fight off an entire pack of hellhounds for you AND give you a pretty, shiny gift. Really seems like the kiss was a stroke of luck. Otherwise no offense dude, but you'd be kibble…which…I'm really glad you're not by the way.

Seriously the chances of me breaking in a new best friend are even less than a pack of canisumbra in Brooklyn and you being rescued by a glittery green pretty boy knight in shining armor."

Alec thought for a minute, shrugging, giving a slight nod,

"Yeah…you have a point there."

Simon glared,

"Hey! You're not supposed to agree with that part!"

Alec laughed, waving him off,

"You know I'm just messing with you…"

Simon nodded, chuckling, settling closer, bouncing eagerly, perking up, waving him off, turning to face him a bit more.

"I know…so since we have the dramatics out of the way let's start back at the beginning…

How the hell did you end up kissing a pretty sparkly dude on a roof?"

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon_

_O-oh my god…_

_This was just…oh my god…_

_Seriously, that w-_

"It's not that funny damnit!" Alec grumbled, glaring heatlessly,

Simon nodded quickly, trying to catch his breath and get his near giggles under control.

"Y-y-yes it is…oh my god…You dropped your knife off a roof?! Like OFF a roof? Just cause some pretty dude got you all flustered and magicked it back to you? Dude! You don't even- _That's something __**I**__ would do!"_

Alec huffed, rolling his eyes,

"I'm aware…"

"A-And! And you were scared by an owl! You SO left that out of the first telling on purpose… How do you not know owls screech? It's like literally a name for them."

"Hey! I'm a city boy; I've lived here all my life-"

Simon snorted,

"So have I...that's no excuse."

Alec huffed again, shaking his head,

"Okay…if you're finished laughing at me can we get back to the main point of the story; my Crazy powerful, color changing, _definitely_ not an angel guardian?"

Simon snickered, quirking his eyebrow,

Alec flushed brilliantly,

"_Oh my god, that's what he called himself okay?!"_

Simon laughed again, holding his hands up placatingly,

"Right, sorry…I-I'm done…" he trailed off trying to cover the last couple chuckles with a totally unconvincing cough,

"Thanks Simon…"

"Sorry! I really am trying okay…but I'm still kinda annoyed you kept it from me this long."

"Why, so you could've laughed at me all this time?"

It was Simon's turn to roll his eyes,

"No…I just can't believe you didn't think I'd be on your side."

Alec softened a bit, shaking his head,

"It was never that- I knew you'd never like, turn on me or whatever…I just never wanted to put you in the position of feeling like you're betraying me or betraying our society…that's all."

Simon sighed, sobering giving a faint shrug,

"I get that…but come on Alec. You've known me for years, been my best friend for well over a year…you know me. And you know my secret. You know I could make it as a hunter- I just don't want to. I chose to be an ancillary…you have to realize if I'd do that- purposefully choose something that makes me the butt of jokes and seen as less than in a lot of people's eyes there has to be a reason behind it."

Alec nodded slowly, quirking his eyebrow,

"Well…yeah…I kinda just figured you preferred the intellectual part of the fight over the physical violence."

Simon shrugged, wrapping his arms around himself, hunching slightly, taking a deep breath,

_He'd never actually voiced this to anyone..._

"I…yeah…that's part of it…"

Alec scooted closer, tilting his head curiously,

"But…there's more?"

Simon swallowed, giving a near imperceptible nod, glancing away, picking at a loose thread on his jeans,

Alec reached over, resting his hand on Simon's shoulder, squeezing gently,

"Simon, what is it? Whatever it is you can tell me…Like I said, I have your back no matter what."

"I know…"

"So…What is it?"

He swallowed again, looking up giving a bit of a hopeless shrug,

"I don't like the fighting…or the violence…but more than that I…I don't truly believe in this fight."

Alec almost startled, shaking his head,

"W-what do you mean? They're mon-"

He shook his head,

"No…that's what we're taught. They're monsters; evil, soulless terrors that prey on humans and wreak havoc…

But Alec, have you ever really thought about it? I mean REALLY thought about it.

How many reports have we had of attacks on humans? What maybe ten a year…if that? There are _**thousands**_ of Supernaturals- just in this city alone."

Alec shrugged,

"Well yeah but that's because we keep-"

"The humans safe, yeah I know…I've heard it…I've heard it all my life. The supernatural stay in line because they're afraid of hunters…

But what about places there aren't a big hunter presence? Rural towns and cities, on islands o-or the little isolated pockets spread out all over the world. We don't have an institute _everywhere_…they're all in big cities. thirty spread out all across the world- that is nothing.

If Supernaturals are the evil monsters we're taught, just waiting for an opportunity to attack-they have it! They've had it hundreds of times. Why haven't they taken it? Why don't we get reports of massacres or Supernaturals totally overtaking those places we don't have a stronghold in? It's not like there's a shortage of them."

Alec swallowed, stiffening faintly,

"Simon…you know I lost my sister to this fight."

Simon nodded,

"I know. You lost Izzy to it…there have been a lot of good, wonderful, amazing people lost to this fight. I am sorry about that…I truly am. Alec I know you believe in the fight- I'm not saying the fight is totally unwarranted, I'm not.

I just think the view we are given is FAR too simplistic. We're taught to totally discount, fear and hate anyone not human or angelus and…t-that just doesn't set right with me. I know there are monsters in this world…I'm sure there are some Supernaturals who ARE exactly what we make them out to be. But the idea of totally discounting entire populations just because they're different from us…t-that is NOT right.

It's not. And honestly just the thought of it makes me sick." he trailed off, shrugging, slumping faintly,

Alec's totally silent,

Simon takes a deep breath, trying to get his nerves in check, to steady his hands, stop them from shaking…

_God…what did he just do? _

He shouldn't have said that…never should have put this on him. It's _**Alec**_. He's the best friend he's ever had, but he is a hunter to the bone. Near everything he is is tied up in it; His family, his legacy, everything.

_He lost his sister to this, he's n-_

His thoughts are cut off by a gentle hand on his shoulder. Simon almost flinches away, glancing over nervously. Alec catches his eye, shaking his head,

"Simon…I really don't know what to say to that…except I understand what you are saying…I really do, and it's okay.

It's okay to question…I mean, maybe not outside this room…but with me you don't have to worry; you can always be straight with me…well…you know, figuratively speaking….being straight's exactly either of our strong suit."

Simon gave a shocked, surprised laugh at the attempt at a joke, taking a deep breath, looking up hopefully,

"S-so…you don't hate me?"

Alec gave a scoffing laugh, shaking his head, slipping his arm around Simon's shoulders,

"What? Of course not. Simon you are my best friend, nothing changes that. You are one of the sweetest, kindest, most ridiculous people I've ever met. None of what you said changes that…" He chuckled, shrugging,

"Hell…I should've realized it myself. You question everything else, why would this be any different? And you always automatically see the best in people- I don't know why it never occurred to me that'd extend to Supernaturals as well." He paused, shaking his head, a bit of hesitation flickering in his eyes,

"I-I can't say I agree with you…I mean everything I believe or care about is tied up in this fight, it's all I've ever known. I can't really imagine anything making me truly question it, not to the point where I'd give up in any case…"

Simon shook his head,

"I know Alec; I never expected you to. I know how much you've lost to this, how personal this fight is to you. And I'm not saying I'm gonna, like run to the other side, turn traitor. It's not that I think our side is like, evil or whatever…I just don't think we get near all the information we should and that it's a hell of a lot more complicated then we are lead to believe."

Alec sighed, nodding,

"Gotta admit think you have something there. I know one thing, this Magnus guy is most definitely complicated as hell."

Simon snorted, nodding quickly,

"Sounds like it…"

Alec shrugged, tilting his head curiously,

"Seriously, everything I've told you about him…do you have any clue what the hell he might be?" He gave a kind of sheepish look,

"Sorry, I-I don't mean to just, like switch back to my problems, j-"

Simon shook his head quickly,

"No trust me; I'm _totally_ good with us being done with the scariest most uncomfortable conversation of my life. And that's including the coming out conversation where we both thought the other was making a move on us. I'm SO good with it being done. More than happy to theorize about your Most Definitely NOT an angel guardian."

Alec gave a surprised laugh, shaking his head, Simon quirked his eyebrow,

"Your Glittery Green Knight in shining armor?"

"_**No…"**_

"Knight in shining club wear?"

Alec groaned, dropping his head into his hands, rubbing his temples,

"Oh my god…"

"Sorry! Last one I promise…"

Alec snorted, giving him a sarcastic look

Simon shrugged,

"Last one for at least an hour?"

Alec rolled his eyes but shrugged concedingly,

"Eh, best I can hope for, I'll take it. Okay…so…what the hell IS this guy?"

Simon chuckled, shaking his head, giving a flippant waive, before being struck by an idea,

"I don't know…honestly I've never heard of any supernatural even remotely like what you are describing. But I think I have an idea where we could find more information…though we may need to change first." he paused, looking over Alec in his black combat boots, tight black jeans and slightly worn, just a bit too small black tee shirt, leather jacket flung carelessly over the chair next to him, before glancing down at his own worn dark blue tennis shoes, skinny jeans and Doctor Who shirt, holding up a finger,

"Okay _I_ need to change- you're all dark, broody, and leather- you're good. Probably half the people there'll be dressed like that. Not so much with the Doctor who meets high school student vibe I got going

Alec quirked his eyebrow,

"Umm...thanks…I think? Also where? We need information…since when is there a dress code for getting information? Aren't we heading to the library, or archives or something like that?"

Simon shrugged, giving a slightly mischievous smirk,

"Uhh…yeah…Something like that…"

Alec's eyes widened, he swallowed nervously,

"You know that look tends to make me very, _very_ nervous. It's the same one you had just before the pumpkin weasel incident."

Simon grinned, patting his shoulder reassuringly,

"Oh don't worry…it's nothing like that. By the way can I borrow one of your leather jackets? Oh and while you're grabbing that let me just pop next door to Kyra's, see if I can borrow her eyeliner. Be right back." he flashed a quick smile, bounding off the bed, hurrying out the door.

Alec swallowed, blinking nervously…

_Ooh…crap…_

_This was SO gonna be the pumpkin weasel incident all over again._

_Can he maybe lock the door before he gets back?_

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _End Of Chapter Notes_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

Oh my goodness! I LOVE Simon and Alec as best buddies, they're so cute!

So…bit of an emotional roller coaster, I don't know why I like that so much, but I really do.

I don't know what the pumpkin weasel incident is…but I referenced it in the SEM verse so it may crop up when I need a crazy story for Simon, sounds fun.

So what do you guys think so far?

* 18 *


	4. Chapter 4-Clubbing With Alec

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_**Chapter 4:**_

_**Clubbing With Alec**_

Chapter Complete!

Simon has an idea where to look for info on this Magnus guy…Alec might actually take another fight with the Canisumbra over clubbing…

_*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*_ Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec _*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*_

"You know what? I take it back- this is actually WORSE than the Pumpkin Weasel Incident…We can't do this Simon, we _can't_. This is insane. And since when do you know how the hell to put on eyeliner?" Alec grumbled, glancing over at Simon, shaking his head.

_Seriously- he'd put it on like it was nothing- While he was still chattering on! And it was freaking perfect- like he did it every day perfect…like half the girls in training would be envious perfect!_

_How did he not know that about the Simon? He thought he knew everything about the guy…apparently he missed a thing or two…_

Simon chuckled, giving a slight shrug,

"Eh, there tend to be more female Ancillaries than males, not a lot of the hunters hang out with us- besides you most of my other friends are all girls. A few times some of them were bored and I let them fix my makeup…Maybe more than a few times- it kinda stuck. Not something I'd deal with every day, but it works for some situations…like this for example.

Figured it'd help, this way I wouldn't stand out quite so much…though I kinda wish you had a smaller jacket, this one the sleeves keep slipping down and covering my hands- looks like I'm wearing a boyfriend's letterman jacket."

Alec snorted, quirking his eyebrow,

"More like a kid playing dress-up in their dad's closet."

Simon flailed,

"_Hey!"_

Alec shrugged, chuckling, holding his hands up placatingly,

"I'm just sayin'…Can't really help it if you're short. We could've always raided Jace's closet- he's would probably have fit you better."

Simon scrunched up his nose,

"Uhh…eww…no. Also do you REALLY think you want to see what Jace has hiding in his closet?"

Alec scrunched up his nose, shaking his head quickly, pointing back at Simon,

"Good point…never mind. It looks fine…this is still insane."

Simon huffed, rolling his eyes,

"It's not! It's the next logical move. We don't know anything about this dude, we have no idea what he is or even who he is beyond the name- and I get the feeling if he's as powerful as you said his kind would've came up in our lessons by now- probably with a giant caution sign next to it.

You said he has crazy mixed up powers, changes color, opened a cloud portal thing, and he pretty much singlehandedly took out an entire pack of Canisumbra-"

"Not 'singlehandedly'- I helped! I took out two."

"Yup…two…out of nine…with the knife _he_ gave you after you threw your own off a roof…lotta help there…"

Alec glared, nudging his shoulder,

"That was for the short comment, wasn't it?"

Simon grinned, winking,

"Yup…

Anyways you also said that both the human thugs AND a pack of demons acted terrified at just a couple words from him. So he's something that scares demons but that human lowlifes would also know of and fear…

Add all that up?...Pfft," Simon shrugged, giving a flippant gesture,

"I got nothing."

Alec snorted, quirking his eyebrow,

"Solid ancillary work there…really spectacular. I am truly impressed."

Simon laughed, shrugging,

"Hey, I can only work with what I got- and like I said I got nothing- except it's probably a really bad idea to piss the dude off. But as he liked you enough to fight off a pack of slobbering, phasing death, gotta figure so long as I'm with you I should be good where that is concerned.

Though if we do find him I'll have to make sure he doesn't think we're like a couple or something. I'd hate to have the dude think I was competition or whatever. Well not that too many people would actually see me as like serious competition but still, wouldn't want to chance it.."

Alec shook his head, nudging his shoulder,

"Don't put yourself down like that; you're smart, sweet, cute, WAY too energetic- but it works. I mean true you're not really my type- but you know, I'm not yours either so we're good there. Even so there are plenty of people interested in you, you're just not into them…and that's fine. I'm sure you'll find someone eventually."

Simon glanced over,

"Thanks Alec, that's good to hear."

Alec shrugged,

"Anytime…but it's probably moot anyways. I mean really this is a pretty long shot- and once again _totally_ insane. I really don't think we're just gonna 'stumble' onto him at the first random supernatural hang out we go to. Actually as quick as you came up with it I'm kinda wondering if this isn't just an excuse for you to drag me here cause you know it'd SO not happen any other way."

Simon shook his head quickly,

"It's not! It's a logical place to search for information. We got absolutely nothing. And I'm sure we don't because I am a totally unashamed nerd especially when it comes to cool, crazy, totally unique Supernaturals and if I found any part of this in any of our books I'd of geeked out about it-Hard.

I'd of looked up everything possible because, _dude_ ,this guy sounds like the coolest thing ever!"

Alec shook his head, chuckling,

"You are _so_ weird."

Simon gave a totally unconcerned shrug,

"I know, but it works for me. Anyways as I've never seen anything about this guy I gotta think he's not gonna just randomly show up as a footnote or whatever in anything cause seriously? Color changing, mixed powered, portal creating being capable of taking out an entire pack of deadly vicious monsters AND with ready access to some of the rarest, most powerful weapons in the Supernatural arsenal?

That's not a footnote- that's a freaking encyclopedia sized book- no way I'd of missed something like that.

Also for both the human AND the Demon thugs to be afraid of him he has to be connected to something intimidating that is actually known to the human world. I'm not sure what that is or what it means but I do think it will help farther down the line. In the meantime odds are if demons are afraid of him he's a pretty formidable dude. All the most powerful, most intimidating Supernaturals hang out at Chaos and because of that- and because many of them don't always play well with others- it even has the whole 'ex diebus' spell completely prohibiting violence of any kind inside. It's a neutral zone, a safe space. It's supposed to be where the different factions can meet up to hammer out issues without the threat of violence.

That would apply to us too.

I mean I know hunters aren't exactly expected there, but if violence is prohibited than violence is prohibited…no exceptions. I've looked into the spell several times. It's all encompassing and SUPER powerful. From what I can find it's been on Chaos for over three centuries, no one even knows who put the spell on it, just that it's there and just as powerful now as it has ever been. The place is totally impervious to any attacks, it is completely protected. There is nothing that out and out prohibits hunters from going there- they just don't because they can't attack the place and they don't really just sit around chatting and drinking with Supernaturals.

I've even heard of a few cadets that went there on a dare. There's no actual danger and really we're trying to find information on a clearly powerful supernatural- this is the hang out of most every extremely powerful supernatural; it's the logical place to start."

Alec quirked his eyebrow,

"I still think you're just trying to get me to go clubbing with you."

Simon huffed,

"I'm not! It's no trick- I genuinely think it's the best place to start. I mean I know it probably won't really be welcoming and Raphael will probably be scary as hell b-"

Alec's steps faltered,

"Raphael?"

Simon nodded quickly,

"Yeah Raphael Santiago, he's the owner Chaos."

Alec stopped, paling holding his finger up,

"Raphael Santiago? The Demon? The single most powerful demon in existence…arguably the most powerful supernatural- of ANY supernatural known to be in the world today. The guy who is said to be capable of wiping out entire divisions? The guy that even battle hardened generals have nightmares about?

THAT Raphael Santiago?"

Simon sighed, holding his hands up placatingly,

"Okay yes…but-"

Alec shook his head quickly,

"There are no 'buts! Are you insane?! We can't go to the lair of the freaking Demon king-"

"Not a 'king', he's just their leader a-"

"_SO not that point! _Raphael Santiago is the single most feared Supernatural in existence- there have been entire battalions sent after him who where never heard from again. No one who's ever gone after the guy has came back- not one person, they have actually stopped trying. If there's a report of him entering a fight most everyone will just cut their losses and get the hell out of there."

Simon quirked his eyebrow,

"Okay…true…but you did say anyone who was sent to kill him…I mean you can't really fault a guy for defending himself. In fact I've never seen a report of him actually starting a fight- just finishing them. Every account I've ever seen of a fight with him started with the hunters attacking…Honestly he sounds really interesting-

And once again Chaos IS a totally neutral zone…I'd bet if anyone would know about your color changing super powered most definitely NOT an angel guardian it'd be him."

Alec blinked,

And blinked again, running that back through, trying to make it make sense…

It didn't work,

Alec blinked once more, shaking his head, looking Simon over in disbelief,

"W-wait…I can't be hearing this right. Your plan is to actually go to the lair of the single most powerful, terrifying supernatural in existence, waltz in, and ask HIM about Magnus?

THAT is your plan?"

Simon shrugged,

"Well…yeah…pretty much, you have a better one?"

Alec flailed

"_A Better one!? I can't think of a worse one!"_

He swallowed, shaking his head quickly, reaching over catching Simon's arm, tugging him back the way they came,

"Simon? This is insane. I want to find out about this Magnus guy, but not at the risk of our own lives-"

Simon shook his head,

"It's not! The place i-"

"Is neutral yeah I heard you the first few times…but it's also HIS place. We are walking in there without any protection, with no way of defending ourselves. What if he has, like, an off switch for the spell or something? Simon, I know you always see the best in people but this is just too much. Maybe the guy isn't the total monster we're made to think he is…but what if he IS? What then? If you've misread this then we are screwed. We are willingly walking into the lair of one of the single most feared Supernaturals in existence.

What i-"

"Do you trust me?"

Alec blinked, tilting his head,

"What?"

Simon shrugged,

"Do you trust me?"

Alec sighed,

"I-yes, of course I do, you know that…but this-"

Simon stepped forward, shaking his head, meeting Alec's eyes, a strong, determined spark there unlike anything Alec had ever seen in the other man making him pause,

"Alec…I know this seems completely insane. I know everything we've heard about him, everything we've heard about them- but I don't think that's all there is to it. I don't think that's all there is to him. I know nothing about this Magnus guy, but I've read _literally_ every last thing ever written about Raphael Santiago. I have never once seen an account of an unprovoked attack by him- not one…

I have never seen one report of him hurting an innocent. In fact there's even been a few accounts where it sounds like he went out of his way to protect a few who got caught in the crossfire, even a few from our side." he swallowed, shaking his head,

"I know what it sounds like; it seems foolish and crazy and a whole host of other things but I think it's the right move. I think this will help…I think it will help both of us. Raphael has been around for centuries- he knows the supernatural world- hell he very nearly runs a good portion of it. And yeah, I doubt he'd just out and out tell us everything he knows about another supernatural-maybe he won't tell us anything and we'll be right back where we started. But I think if we explain to him what's happening- that this guy seems to be looking out for you, that he was protecting you, maybe he will at least be able to give you some idea what's going on.

At this point anything he could tell us would be helpful, and even if he gives us absolutely nothing we're just right back where we started.

He's had control of Chaos for about a century but the spell was there long before that-It's where they've had countless meetings between highly volatile factions- no one has an 'off switch' it would not work otherwise. Despite the name the entire point of Chaos is to give a reprieve from the fighting and violence.

And at least this way we'd know and it's an avenue we can cross off…even if it's nothing at least it's one thing we can rule out."

Alec took a deep breath, meeting Simon's eyes, hesitating just a moment before giving a faint nod,

"Okay…I'm in….this is insane but I'm in."

Simon gave a bright, relieved smile, bouncing slightly, nodding,

"Good…because we're here."

He caught Alec's arm, turning him back to their path, pointing towards what looked like little more than a dark alleyway between two buildings. The streetlight flickered; in between the beams of light Alec could catch glimpses of the telltale shimmer of a magicked door, catching the faintest bit of music and chatter- just bare whispers on the wind.

Simon slipped up behind him, resting his hands on Alec's shoulder's squeezing, tilting to peer over his shoulder, glancing over at Alec, giving a bright, excited smile, eyes sparkling,

"You ready?"

Alec gulped, shaking his head, taking a deep, steadying breath,

"As I'll ever be…"

_*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*_ Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon _*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*_

_Oh my god this is so freaking cool!_

_He's actually going to Chaos!_

He's going to the meeting place and most favored hangout of most every powerful Supernatural known to exist. And the best part is it's totally protected! A safe zone, protected by an unimaginably powerful spell that completely prohibits any form of violence- against ANYONE…hunters included. There's no threat of violence, or danger or any of the things usually associated with a run in with Supernaturals and hunters.

He's going to a real, actual Supernatural club. He's gonna get to see it all- see actual Supernaturals- not in a fight, not trying to kill him or worrying he's gonna kill them or whatever else. He gets to see them just hanging out, living their lives.

_How cool is that?_

With any luck he might even actually get to meet THE Raphael Santiago…and wow he's probably the first Angelus Sanguis to actually take meeting the leader of the demon faction- arguably the most feared supernatural being in existence- as 'lucky' but oh my god it really was. He hadn't been lying when he told Alec he'd read everything he could about the man…if anything he'd downplayed it.

He hadn't just read every bit of info the archives and such had. He'd actually taught himself to read a few of the demonic languages (Something expressly forbidden) just so he could read literally everything he could find about the man. And oh my god there was a LOT about the guy…

And it was all utterly fascinating.

I mean okay, yes the man was a demon, and yes he was said to be near unimaginably powerful but nothing he read painted the man as the evil monster they were taught- well okay it DID but at this point he was pretty skilled at reading between the lines…and there was a lot between the lines when it came to Raphael.

True he was utterly terrifying in a fight; lighting quick, vicious, even at times near ruthless… but as he'd told Alec every last report of a confrontation with him Simon had found began with the hunters attacking him. You can't pick a fight with someone then be pissed that they wipe the floor with you.

It just didn't work that way.

Yes in battle the man totally lived up to the 'demon' thing so far as fighting was concerned. He fought hard, and relentless and at times downright dirty. And yet there was never any mention whatsoever of him ever harming an innocent, not even one. Even in the worst of circumstances he did not stoop to putting innocents in jeopardy.

That was huge…

There were even accounts where he actually protected innocents who had become caught in the crossfire. Of course the reports didn't out and out say he did but from the description of his actions it was quite clear what his intent was.

Wow…

Everything he'd read about the man just utterly fascinated him. He was brave, and strong, and protective. Most reports said he came off as cold, or just out and out terrifying- he seemed to kind of take pleasure in scaring, intimidating or just freaking out people…this obviously didn't really cast him in the best light so far as most hunters were concerned, but from the way it was worded it sounded like it was a game for him. Just a harmless bit of fun…okay so maybe not entirely harmless, maybe the guy did have a slightly twisted, dark sense of humor, but…well can you blame him?

Yeah it seemed a bit obnoxious, but well…as Alec had said the man's had entire battalions go after him. With all that Simon kinda got the appeal of making them squirm a bit.

In addition to all of that he was supposed to be near irresistibly charming when he wanted to be. Was in truth said to be almost unsettlingly attractive- the way it was worded it almost sounded like a warning- as if his attractiveness, magnetism and appeal were weapons he gleefully wielded…

_And these were accounts by staunch, totally straight, tough guy, 'men's men' type hunters… _

Not gonna lie, Simon actually had a pretty good chuckle at that.

He really was quite curious to actually get a chance to see the guy. There weren't any pictures of him in any of the reference books, and no real descriptions besides the most vague of physical traits; dark hair, even darker eyes, usually very well dressed, Latino…and that was about it. That was actually intentional. It was thought by some that even a photo of some of the more formidable beings had power, could sway people (Plus like he said about two thirds of Supernatural's were total knockouts…really wouldn't do to have cadets and the like drooling over pictures of the beings they're being raised to fight. Also just to play devil's advocate he did know there actually were a couple, very rare, VERY complicated, near impossible spells that some particularly powerful beings could use to turn any image of themselves into a kind of gateway, allowing them to gain info, even at times actually see and interact with whomever had the image.

I mean it was a real long shot…there were but a handful of beings even thought to be capable of that kind of thing but still it's one of the few rules that he actually understood the logic behind.

_Didn't make it any less annoying though._

It really made it quite a bit more difficult when you couldn't actually see a visual of the being you were reading about.

Now though he's gonna actually get a chance to see the man in person.

He fought down a near giggle, bouncing lightly on his heels, before trying to school his features, calm himself a bit. It wouldn't do to seem too eager…or squeal and blather on like a giddy fanboy. No matter how embarrassingly close that was to the truth.

_No…Stop Simon, get it together…_

This isn't some social call- you're helping Alec find out what's going on, why he suddenly has a crazy pretty supernatural 'definitely not an angel guardian'. This is work…you are helping your best friend…who is right here and probably shouldn't see you embarrassingly Fanboying over a freaking demon. The guy lost his sister to this fight, and yeah he said he trusts you and is always on your side but still he does not need to see that.

_Get it together dude._

Okay…deep breath.

Simon took a couple calming breathes, schooling his features, glancing over at Alec next to him.

_Alright…you're helping your best friend._

He nodded faintly to himself, pausing just outside the door, glancing over at Alec, catching his eye, flashing a quick, reassuring smile,

"You ready?"

Alec swallowed, giving a faint nod. Simon smiled, nodding back, reaching over clasping his shoulder, giving a firm, reassuring squeeze.

He shrugged,

"Well, here goes nothing…"

He glanced around the street making absolutely sure no one was watching them before taking one more deep breath, slipping through the shimmering, glamoured doorway, Alec right on his heels.

_*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*_ End Of Chapter Notes _*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*_

Ex diebus- Time Out

Kay, I think the second part was kind if filler but I like getting to see Simon's thoughts here…think it was needed.

So what do you guys think so far?

*** 14 ***


	5. Chapter 5- Hell Of A First Impression

_**Chapter 5:**_

_**Hell Of A First Impression**_

_Chapter Complete!__*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _*~__Simon__ ~*~ __Simon__ ~*~__Simon__ ~*~ __Simon__ ~*~ __Simon__~*_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

_Okay apparently clubs are loud…_

_Who knew?_

Simon startled, jumping faintly in surprise, trying to fight off the urge to cover his ears at the sudden onslaught of sound. From outside you could see the barest hint of a spell, hear whispers of sound and music on the wind, but man, the second they stepped through it was like the volume cranked up to eleven. Though part of that could've been his ears popping from the sudden change in the atmosphere- it's kinda similar to a change of elevation- everything just feels odd and different.

Even without the sudden sound blast stepping through the masking spell was somewhat disorientating. He knew what caused it, had actually been expecting it- as he'd said he'd read everything possible about Raphael. Much of that did mention the spell and Chaos. The sudden change was the tangible elements of the spell. It would never totally go away, that was actually purposeful. It was a way for people to know implicitly that the spell was there, that they were protected. Most said it actually became a kind of comforting presence.

Even though he knew what it was and had been expecting it it's still a pretty jarring sensation.

_Maybe he should've given Alec a head's up…_

He glanced over, Alec looked jumpy and kinda twitchy, looking around, hand trailing to the hidden pocket for his knife out of habit. Simon reached over, catching his arm. He startled faintly, Simon shook his head, flashing a quick, reassuring smile,

"It's alright Alec- it's the spell. It's actually supposed to feel like that. This way people always know the spell is enacted. It's said after the initial adjustment period it's actually supposed to be kind of comforting."

Alec scoffed, shaking his head,

"Yeah, don't think I'll be hanging around here long enough for all of that."

Simon nodded,

"Sorry, I know it's insane but I really think it'll help, we can look around and see if we c…"

Simon trailed off, glancing around, unable to quite contain a gasp, blinking rapidly in amazement.

_Oh wow…_

_Wow…_

It was so much bigger than he'd imagined. He'd been expecting a kind of smaller bar type feel but this looked almost like an entire warehouse reimagined into a club. There were two floors. The second was open in the center, a gleaming, intricately designed black guardrail encircling the catwalk giving a perfect view of the dance floor down below. He saw a few people standing by it, chatting, drinking or just taking in the crowd…can't say he blames them there.

_The place was packed!_

The dance floor was in the center of the room with tables and other little setting areas scattered about here and there. Half the left hand wall was taken up by the bar, shelves stacked clear to the ceiling. Everywhere he looked there was more…and it was freaking awesome!

The air over the dance floor what filled with bursts of magic and color, swirling and mingling. He saw Fae, demons, goblins, and so much more. Everywhere he looked his eye's caught something else amazing; flashes of powers, glimmering eyes, wings, scales, tails, claws- the whole nine yards. And yeah seeing that all together was totally amazing but what hit him most wasn't what they were but how they were acting. They were laughing, smiling, talking, joking…they were just relaxing and having fun.

_Oh wow…_

He never thought he'd get to see something like this. He couldn't help a giddy laugh, excitedly looking over at Alec, bouncing on his heels,

"Dude, how cool is this?!"

Alec blinked, shaking his head, trailing along behind him. He looked around, settling closer to Simon, resting his hand protectively on his shoulder, casting suspicious glances around at the Supernaturals.

"Uh huh…cool…So…what's the next part of the plan?"

Simon shrugged, glancing around.

_Yeah okay, they were drawing a bit of attention. Stood to reason- not like Angelus Sanguis just randomly wandered into the hangouts of unimaginably powerful Supernaturals every day._

He could see a couple murmuring, shooting nervous glances their way, tensing up…and it did seem a bit quieter around them than when they first came in. He didn't know if that was just the ear popping thing or if the place actually got quieter thanks to their intrusion.

He really hoped it was the ear popping thing but he kinda doubted it.

_Damnit…he didn't want to make them uncomfortable._

He glanced around, meeting a couple of their eyes, smiling brightly, giving a bit of a cheerful, animated wave,

_Oookay…well that didn't help…now if anything they look more worried…_

He saw a couple take a few hesitant steps back, putting a bit more distance between them. That was SO not what he was going for. Though guess Supernaturals aren't really used to what is supposed to be their sworn enemy waving and smiling at them…at least not in a non-jackass, cocky, 'I have you now' kinda way. It's possible they think he's a bit off…

Or just plain bat crap crazy…

_**Damnit!**_

He sighed, shrugging again, glancing over at Alec, who'd moved closer still, clearly tense and ready for an attack.

Simon huffed,

"Alec, come on- I told you the place is a safe zone, we're good. Stop looking ready to fight, it's not helpful, it's putting them on edge. If we want to find him we need to ask around but I don't know how we'll do that without freaking them out even more than we already have."

Alec sputtered,

"_**They're**_ freaking out!? We're the one's completely surrounded in a den of Supernaturals! There are way more here than I ever imagined. I want to find the guy but this really does not seem safe. I think we need to leave."

Simon shook his head,

"Come on! We just got here; we have to at least try!"

"It was a bad idea…we need to go."

"Your friend is quite right." a smooth, rich, ever so slightly accented voice says, right beside them,

Alec and Simon both startle, looking over at the voice. Simon freezes,

_Wow…_

_Found him…_

_And he suddenly totally gets the warning about the attractiveness._

The man standing next to them is quite possibly the most beautiful person Simon has ever seen. He looks about Simon's age with deep brown, perfectly styled hair and stunningly gorgeous features. He's wearing a perfectly tailored, all black suit with a deep, rich, blood red shirt under a slim fitting black waistcoat/vest kinda thing. You could literally FEEL the power radiating from the man. Everything about him looks perfectly put together, everything is enticing, almost disarming. But what catches Simon's attention the most is the man's eyes. They're deep, impossibly deep, dark brown and seem sharp, intelligent and calculating. There's SO much hiding behind those impossibly dark eyes. Simon feels a bit of a prickle looking into them, a little breathless.

He just manages to fight down a truly embarrassing giggle.

Raphael tilts his head, eyes flickering from Alec over to Simon, lingering curiously, before quirking his eyebrow,

"Think you kinda took a wrong turn boys."

Alec swallowed, nodding, catching Simon's shoulder,

"I think you're right…come on Simon, let's go." He tugged, trying to get him to head towards the door. Simon shrugged his hand off, shaking his head, turning to Alec,

"Alec it's fine…if you really want to go you can, but we came all this way. I'm not going without at least trying."

Raphael zeroed in on Simon, settling a bit closer, eyes flickering over him curiously. He shook his head, nodding towards the door,

"You really should listen to your boyfriend lindo; this is not a safe place for an ancillary, especially one all on his own."

Simon flailed, shaking his head,

"Oh! No, not my boyfriend…just a friend- totally platonic…I mean not like I wouldn't want to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend I'm good with either but I don't have either right now. I'm single…totally single….umm…n-not that you care…" He huffed, rolling his eyes, glancing over at Alec,

"Damnit; see Alec? I told you about the jacket thing."

"It was your idea!"

"That's beside the point and an-"

"Ahem…"

They startle, looking back at the other man. Raphael quirked his eyebrow, smirking faintly,

"Noted…in any case that wasn't really the point. We don't generally get your type here…and quite frankly it makes my patrons rather twitchy. Much like your 'not-boyfriend' there."

Alec glared, Raphael just chuckled, continuing right along, all but dismissing Alec, focusing right back on Simon, leaning a little closer,

"So…you said you weren't going to leave until you at least tried…what is it you need to try?"

Simon flushed faintly, this time unable to hold back the giggle like laugh. There was a bit of an inflection there that kinda made it sound like something totally different.

_Yeah he was really starting to get the warnings about the dude._

"U-umm…nothing like that…"

Raphael chuckled, settling even closer, Simon blushed more, glancing over shyly, Alec rolled his eyes even as he relaxed slightly.

"Okay, nothing like 'that'. So, Simon…why exactly are you in my club?"

_Hey! Raphael Santiago knew his name!_

He had to fight down another truly embarrassing giggle,

"Umm…w-well…it's not really for me, it's for Alec here. See he kinda had a run in with another Supernatural. A guy named Magnus, green skin, violet eyes…though that seemed to change. Oh! Umm not like the usual 'run in' like a fight or whatever…well the first time there was kinda a fight but it's not really a usual type of fight…I mean I don't really make a point of getting in a lot of fights and I'm an ancillary so fighting skills and tactics aren't really my strong suit but still I don't think there's a usual fighting style that ends in a kiss…so…"

Raphael blinked in surprise, glancing over at Alec, a little hint of an amused glint in his pretty eyes,

"I am rather unfamiliar with that combat style myself…"

Alec glared; Raphael smirked, turning once more to Simon,

"In any case I think you may have gotten a bit sidetracked lindo. What does your friend ending a fight by kissing an opponent have to do with you showing up in my club?" He chuckled,

"He's not all twisted up over one little kiss, right? This isn't a stalker kind of deal?"

Alec startled,

"_Hey!"_

Raphael shrugged dismissively,

"Well you do kinda have that vibe with the whole stoic 'thing' you got going on…" he once more turned back to Simon,

"What was it you were saying?"

Simon chuckled, shaking his head,

"It's not like that…well…actually it kinda is…only not on Alec's side."

Raphael blinked, tilting his head,

"This 'Magnus' guy is actually stalking him?"

"Well no…not 'stalking' exactly… at least it doesn't really seem like that. But it does kinda appear that the guy's been following Alec, looking out for him. He's actually saved Alec's life twice now."

"Once." Alec interjected,

Simon quirked his eyebrow,

"Twice…the roof and the pack of slobbering death."

Alec shook his head quickly,

"The roof doesn't count! The only reason I almost fell was because he snuck up and startled me. It doesn't count as 'saving someone's life' if their life's only in danger because of you! By that logic anyone who fails an assassination attempt could claim they actually saved the person's life."

Raphael chuckled, inclining his head faintly in agreement.

"He may actually have a point there. But the guy did in fact save you once…yes? From a 'pack of slobbering death'?"

Alec nodded,

"Actually it was a pack of canisumbra but Simon's description is pretty accurate. I was patrolling, they came out of nowhere. I wouldn't know how to fight even one of them…there were nine. There's no way I'd of made it out of that without him."

Simon leaned forward,

"He really wouldn't have. The guy told him to think of him as a guardian angel- even though he's most definitely NOT an angel- his words. Anyways Alec has no clue who or what the guy is besides a first name but he would really like to know more about him…and honestly? I got nothing on this, even with everything he's told me and I'm usually pretty good with research. And I kinda get the feeling if the dude's really as powerful as he seems he'd of come up…probably with a whole slew of warnings.

I got the idea we could come here as I know it's pretty popular with the more powerful Supernaturals and since the Ex diebus spell prohibits violence I figured it would be safe enough for us to check out. I thought since it's your club and you're well…YOU that you'd probably know at least a bit about the guy."

Raphael blinked, tilting his head,

"You know who I am?"

Simon nodded,

"Yeah, Raphael Santiago; the leader of the demon faction and the current owner of Chaos."

His eyes flickered, leaning a bit closer,

"Hmm…you do not seem worried by that?"

Simon shrugged,

"Well that's probably because I'm not. Actually you're the main reason I wanted to come here…like I said if anyone would know about this Magnus dude it'd be you."

Raphael gave a disbelieving laugh, quirking his eyebrow in surprise,

"So what? You think you can just come into my club, act all cute, and I'm just gonna fold and give up info on a fellow supernatural, just like that?"

Simon shook his head, flailing slightly,

"Oh, no! Nothing like that I j...wait...cute? You think I'm cute?"

Raphael chuckled, shrugging, eyes flickering black, shifting over Simon before meeting his eyes,

"Very…but it's still not gonna work. I am not so easily swayed."

Simon blushed, giving a quick nod and shrug,

"Well yeah, that makes sense with the whole ace thing."

Raphael blinked in surprise, eyes flickering black again, tilting his head curiously,

"Ace thing?"

Simon hesitated,

"Well…y-yeah…I mean I thought you were…though I could be wrong."

Raphael shrugged,

"You're not."

Simon bounced excitedly, flailing a bit,

"Really? Awesome!"

He gave a surprised chuckle, shaking his head faintly, leaning a bit closer.

"I kind of think so. I'm curious, how did you know? It's not really something very well known…and more specifically how did you realize it would apply to me? I did not think that'd made it into the general mythos so far as I am concerned…not that it'd matter as most don't even know what it is."

Simon nodded quickly,

"Well my friend Blake is and she's told me a lot about it- there are quite a few idiots who don't understand and think she's just playing hard to get. It helps a lot for her to vent and I've always been good for that.

And so far as you're concerned, it hasn't. There's never been any outright mention of asexuality; it's just something I put together. Actually reading the accounts of you most think you're anything from a total player to like some exceptionally high powered succubus- well technically incubus as you're male. But I have a real knack for reading between the lines and it seemed to line up perfectly with everything."

Raphael outright laughed at that, tilting his head, smirking almost playfully, leaning in slightly,

"What, I can't be all three? You may be underestimating me."

Simon chuckled, rolling his eyes, shaking his head,

"Well, if anyone could pull that off it'd be you…though I'm pretty sure you're not that kind of demon. Succubi/incubi's eyes flash reddish violet and have a band of gold around the pupil which is elongated and looks kind of amphibian. Yours flash black. It doesn't narrow it down much as there's about a dozen types of demons that have that feature but it does help rule out a few."

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head,

"Hmm…clever one, aren't you?"

Simon shrugged, relaxing a bit, leaning in closer,

"I think so…well most of the time anyways."

Raphael quirked his eyebrow in interest, a flicker of something in those pretty bright, deep eyes… a hint of mischief that kinda sent a quick, excited little thrill through Simon.

Raphael shrugged,

"Confidence is always good." He glanced around, nodding over to the bar,

"Well if you are going to question me we may as well relax. After all this is a club…" he fluttered his fingers, an elaborately carved crystal glass filled with a shimmering, bubbling neon green drink appearing. He smirked, holding it out to Simon, quirking his eyebrow,

"Drink?"

_Ah…that explains the impish, mischievous little thing,_

Alec sputters,

"He's not gonna-"

Simon reached forward, taking the glass. He tilts his head, meets Raphael's eyes, smirks, and downs it in one go.

Alec actually squeaked,

"Simon what did you just do! I-"

He waved him off,

"Alec, spell, remember? Violence of any kind is prohibited- that would include poison…it has to, otherwise the spell wouldn't work. Someone would figure it out and use it…Chaos would no longer be a safe zone. It was actually pretty good, tasted like apples." he glanced back at Raphael,

"Kay, are we good now, or are you gonna try to scare me more?"

Raphael laughed brightly, shaking his head, gaze yet again flickering over Simon in interest a bit slower this time, giving an impressed bit of a smile, thoughtfully quirking his eyebrow,

"Hmm...Okay. Cute, smart AND brave...

I'm starting to think you might be trouble."

Simon laughs,

"The most feared supernatural in existence thinks I'M trouble?"

He smirks, eyes flashing black, leaning in closer,

"Definitely."

Alec rolls his eyes,

"I'm starting to think I know why you decided to do the eyeliner thing."

Raphael smirked, tilting his head curiously, questioningly looking at Simon. Simon blushed, shaking his head way too quickly, fidgeting,

"T-That's not why..."

Raphael raised his eyebrow, waiting. Simon flushed brighter, scratching nervously at his neck, glancing away sheepishly,

"Well It's not JUST why."

Raphael chuckled, eyes flickering black again, clearly in interest, slipping even closer, meeting Simon's gaze, giving a slight shrug.

"In truth it is not something I would generally take notice of, but I must admit on you it is very appealing."

Simon gave a slightly giggly laugh, brushing his hair back, shifted a little closer towards Raphael, glancing over endearingly,

"Umm…t-thanks…"

Raphael shrugged, slipping closer still, eyes flickering curiously,

"It is the truth."

Alec just barely managed to hold in another eye roll- not that anyone was really focused on him enough to pick up on it. Raphael shrugged, making an elegant, flippant kind of gesture, an intricate spiral staircase appearing just to the left of them, leading to the second floor,

"Very well…though it is pretty loud down here… my office is upstairs, it'd be far easier to talk there, shall we?" he finished, quirking his eyebrow challengingly,

Simon shrugged, beginning up, Raphael chuckled faintly shaking his head before falling into step nearly beside him. Alec quickly began up the stairs behind them, shaking his head at the other two.

_Yeah…this was either gonna be terrifyingly awkward or just outright terrifying…_

_Alec wasn't sure which was worse…_

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _*~__Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__~*~__Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__~*_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

_Oh good god…why couldn't it of just been terrifying?_

_He would SO take terrifying in a heartbeat over whatever the hell _**_this_**_ is…_

_Seriously how the hell did he end up here?_

_He's a hunter…he protects humans and ancillaries and all the rest from the Supernaturals. From Monsters. He's tracked them, studied them, fought them, pretty much his entire life. His family legacy is tied up in this. He is a soldier, a protector of humanity._

_He is a _**_Lightwood_**_ damnit…_

How the hell is it he's ended up in a Supernatural club, setting in an elegant, if rather supervillianish looking office-decked out with red leather, chrome, a whole lot of black and WAY too many deadly objects adorning the walls- twiddling his thumbs while his best friend somewhat blatantly flirts with the single most feared Supernatural- and let's not forget DEMON- In existence?

_Like…what?_

And…okay…it's Simon- he loves the guy but he can be a bit naïve. He more than likely doesn't even realize he's actually flirting with said demon. He's just smiling, laughing, getting all excited and chattering, gesturing animatedly, practically bouncing in place, doing the whole Simon 'thing'. He's just being himself…it's one of the more quirky things about the guy, he honestly has no clue when he's acting all flirty and endearing-

_ But the DEMON sure as hell does!_

And he seems more than alright with it.

He's smiling, leaning close, talking softly in an uncomfortably warm, invitingly teasing tone, chatting and joking, carrying on like they've known each other for years as opposed to all of an hour.

He's LAUGHING! Like, **real** laughing. Not an evil, menacing supervillian like cackle or condescendingly malevolent chuckle, just a soft, warm, kinda pleasantly surprised laugh.

It's weirdly pleasant and totally creeps Alec out.

This is a being that the people who trained the people who trained him have nightmares about.

He is the most fearsome, terrifying Supernatural known to exist. Entire Battalions have been sent after him, never to be heard from again. This is a Supernatural so greatly feared that his people have all but collectively decided to just let him be and hope like hell does the same. Entire battles have been abandoned just on the rumor that he was going to be joining the fight.

That- right there- is the single more feared Supernatural in existence…

Setting on a comfy, plush, deep red leather lounge, leaning in, smiling and laughing delightedly, looking totally charmed as Simon chatters on excitedly about…

T-The new X-men miniseries?

Dude, seriously?

How'd they get there?

Okay…he may have tuned out a bit…he's blaming the total absurdity of the entire situation. This wasn't getting them any closer to finding information on Magnus and he was beginning to feel like a freaking chaperone…

Talk about awkward…

He shook his head, leaning forward in the chair beside the lounge, clearing his throat. Simon seems to startle, blinking, glancing over at him, blushing brightly, seemingly just remembering he's there.

"Oh dude, Sorry, sidetracked…you know me…"

Alec flashed a slightly false smile, nodding,

"No problem Simon…though we do seem to have drifted a bit off topic…unless this Magnus guy has something to do with the new X-Men series- kinda zoned out a bit so I'm not one hundred percent sure."

Simon blushed shaking his head,

"No you're right; I'm actually not sure how we got there either…not that that's unusual." He shrugged, glancing over at Raphael sheepishly,

"Even I can't always keep track of my train of thought…sorry…"

Raphael shook his head, giving a slight wave and a surprisingly warm smile, settling just a bit closer,

"Please don't apologize lindo, it is absolutely no problem. Must admit I'm not used to people being so open and expressive around me. They tend to get nervous or bite their tongues in an effort to keep from saying anything incriminating or enraging. Not wanting to cause issues or give me ammunition I could use against them.

You most definitely don't do that. It really is quite refreshing. Just shows how passionate you are about things, how open and honest you are…there is certainly nothing wrong with that."

Simon gave a self-deprecating laugh, rolling his eyes,

"Yeah well, glad you think that but it's totally unintentional. It's not so much being honest and candid as just my total lack of a filter and inability to in near any way regulate what comes out of my mouth. Nine times out of ten if something pops in my head it'll come flying out my mouth before I even realize it."

Raphael chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

"So you can control it at least a little bit?"

Simon shrugs,

"Yeah…usually if it's something that's like, super malicious or would really hurt someone's feelings I can keep it to myself, but just embarrassing or awkward, pfft…

Forget it…total lost cause."

Raphael laughed brightly, shaking his head, settling closer, arm stretched out across the back of the lounge drifting down a bit, fingers brushing lightly over Simon's shoulder,

"I could not see you having any malicious thoughts…"

Simon laughed, rolling his eyes playfully, turning more to face Raphael, leaning forward, settling a bit closer,

"Hey! I can be mean! Not like I'm some harmless, wide-eyed little anime character with an adorable smile and an animal sidekick."

Raphael snickered, quirking his eyebrow,

"Are you sure about that? You are pretty wide eyed…and you're smile IS adorable…"

Simon blushed, shaking his head quickly, eyes rolling slightly in amusement, giving a teasingly playful smile,

"Well I don't have an animal sidekick…"

"No…you have Alec."

Simon gave a surprised giggle like laugh,

"Hey!" Alec snapped, glaring between the two,

Raphael smirked, quirking his eyebrow challengingly, eyes flickering black, a glimmer of inky black and blood red flames flickering over his hands and up his arms,

"What?"

Alec gulped setting back a bit on instinct,

Simon huffed, nudging Raphael,

"Stop that."

Raphael blinked in surprise, glancing over at him, quirking his eyebrow. Simon faltered, blushing, shrugging, giving a kind of sheepish, hopeful smile,

"Please?"

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head,

"It's a good thing you're so cute." He shrugged, the flames disappearing, glancing back over at Alec,

"Very well…I'll play nice. So…I suppose we should get back to the original topic, yes? You're…what was it you called him Simon?" He asked, glancing over,

Simon nodded,

"Most definitely not an angel guardian."

Raphael chuckled,

"That really is quite long,"

Simon laughed, giving an animated nod, bouncing lightly in place,

"Well, I suggested 'Knight In Shining Clubwear' but Alec wasn't too keen on that one…plus it's not really much shorter."

Raphael laughed in surprise. He glanced over at Alec, giving a scarily playful smile, eyes glinting mischievously,

And again, Alec gulped,

_Uh-oh…_

_He didn't know what that look meant but no way was it good…_

_Crap…_

"Far more entertaining though… Mags'll sure as hell get a kick out of it."

Alec froze,

"X-Mags?"

Raphael met his eyes, nodding,

Simon perked up even more, eyes widening excitedly,

"What…You do know him? Like for real?"

Raphael nodded, shrugging,

"Yes, in fact I know him quite well. We are very close."

Simon faltered, swallowing, deflating a bit,

"Oh…umm…so he's y-"

Raphael shook his head quickly, reaching over, lightly resting his hand on Simon's. He squeezed, lingering a moment, flashing a warm smile,

"No lindo, nothing like that." He smiled once more reassuringly before shifting his gaze from Simon over to Alec, locking eyes with him, warmth shifting to something calculating and sharp, with more than an edge of a challenge.

"Magnus is my best friend…practically my brother. In truth he is the closest thing to family I have…"

Alec blinked, swallowing,

"F-family?"

Raphael nodded, leaning forward, sharp, deep, paralyzing gaze focused completely on Alec,

"Yes, family. For a long time he was the only person I had. There is very little I wouldn't do for him." He paused, tilting his head, leaning forward faintly,

"So, 'Alec' you can understand why I might be a bit wary about someone just waltzing into my club asking questions about my family…"

Alec faltered, giving a slight, quick nod,

"I…umm…y-yeah…I get that…"

Raphael flashed a smile that sent a chill straight down Alec's spine,

"Good…now, how about you fill in a few details here for me? If I believe you, think you are sincere, that you are merely interested in finding Magnus purely out of curiosity and have no malicious intent then I'll call him right now."

Simon scooted forward excitedly,

"You will?"

Raphael glanced over at him, giving a slight nod,

"Yes…but only if I truly believe what he is telling me."

Simon bounced, nodding quickly,

"Of course, but really you don't have to worry about that- Alec's like the most trustworthy, honest, moral person I've ever met."

Raphael sighed, giving a faint shrug,

"I am sure from your viewpoint he is…but to me he is someone who's likely spent the last decade or so hunting down people just like me…" He chuckled, giving a bit of a flippant wave, eyes glimmering ebony, flames flickering again about his arms and shoulders,

"Well…somewhat less intimidating versions of me in any case. You cannot blame me for being a bit apprehensive."

Simon sighed, glancing over at Alec, giving a slightly guilty shrug,

"Okay…h-he does kinda have a point." he flailed eyes wide, waving his hands animatedly,

"Oh uh! Not that I totally agree or anything- I trust you, I know you're being totally honest and you don't have an ulterior motive cause…well…dude it's YOU. Pretty sure the last 'rule' you broke was, like, sneaking into an R rated movie when you were fifteen and even then yo-"

"Thank you Simon…" He cut him off, faltering, flashing a slight smile,

"I don't mean that sarcastically, I'm serious, thank you. I appreciate that but I get what you're saying…what both of you are saying." He takes a deep breath, shifting back to Raphael, setting up straight, meeting his eyes,

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

Raphael blinked in surprise, flashing a slightly less intimidating, approving smile, tilting his head in acknowledgment.

"Hmm…bit braver than you seem. Definitely a good sign…okay, why don't we start at the beginning? How did you first meet Magnus?"

Alec grimaced slightly at the little jab but shrugged,

"I was out on patrol, it was a bit of a slow night, my mind was kinda wandering but I was still keeping an eye out, then something bright and kind of surprising caught my attention."

Raphael chuckled, shrugging,

"Mags?"

Alec flushed slightly, giving a faint nod,

"Umm…yeah. The bright color and the shimmer caught my eye…I could see the glimmer of Fae like Magic which kinda seemed to fit but at the same time here and there I'd spot flickers of flame like Magic…which…umm…which didn't. I had no clue what he was and I was kinda curious so I began to follow him."

Raphael quirked his eyebrow,

"So…you **were** stalking him…"

Alec shook his head,

"No! Not stalking j-just uh…curious…that's all."

Raphael gave a slightly disbelieving scoff, nodding unconvincingly,

"Uh huh…"

Alec shook his head,

"Really I w-"

Raphael gave a flippant wave,

"Very well; you weren't stalking…just 'curious'… we're getting bogged down, please continue."

Alec sighed somewhat annoyed but nodded,

"Okay, so I followed him, trying to figure out what exactly he was. It went on for quite a while, over two hours actually. At one point I realized we were heading into a kinda rough neighborhood. A few of the local toughs kinda took notice of him, moving to intercept. I was sort of worried cause while the thugs were total lowlifes and probably had whatever they had coming to them well, coming, at the end of the day they were just humans and- while I had no clue what the hell the guy was- I knew he'd have no trouble whatsoever taking out the entire group.

No matter how much it may have been deserved I couldn't just sit by and let that happen.

I started to move down to intercept, by then the thugs had moved to block his path. I kinda sped up, and then…I don't know, he just kinda quirked his eyebrow, addressing the leader of the group. I don't know what he said but whatever it was spooked them so bad they stumbled back so fast they nearly landed on the ground. That was crazy enough but then a building over there was a group of demons hanging around on a stoop, they got a great laugh out of the thugs reaction…at least they DID. Then Magnus glanced over at them, quirking his eyebrow curiously.

They froze, mouths snapping shut. Magnus stared at them for a moment before shrugging and moving on. When he passed they were so relieved they slumped, visibly relaxing, nervous flames flickering about their shoulders. They were clearly totally freaked out by it…possibly even more than the humans."

Raphael chuckled, giving a slight nod,

"Yup…that's Mags alright."

Alec scoffed shaking his head in disbelief,

"Yeah it was something else. So after that I was kinda thrown, but I was more determined to figure out just what exactly the guy was. I followed him a bit more, around a few more turns. Then I came around one looking into an alleyway I'd seen him duck into…but it was empty…and I was confused.

I looked around but there was no sign of him…which threw me as there was no back way out and I knew I saw him go that way. I leaned further over the edge looking for any sign, then I heard someone ask 'what were we looking at' only it was literally RIGHT by my ear.

I startled and stumbled, nearly tumbling backwards off the building, but he caught me, pulling me back up."

Raphael chuckled, nodding,

"Yes, I suppose I can see how you may argue that as a rescue."

Alec nodded back, giving a flippant wave,

"Right? So him actually pulling me back up kinda caught me off guard. Sneaking up and startling me, yeah that made sense, but pulling me back up…that didn't…then it got even stranger from there."

Raphael quirked his eyebrow,

"How so?"

Alec shrugged,

"He was acting kinda odd…didn't seem confrontational or in any way threatened...he was actually kinda flirty…which I took as a tactic. I mean that was what made the most sense- trying to distract me from whatever he'd been up to. I kinda reached for my weapon…only it wasn't there… I glanced over at him and he was holding it.

I guess I seemed pretty nervous cause he just kinda huffed and rolled his eyes, saying he wasn't gonna use it, just wanted me to know he could get it…then he gave it back to me."

Raphael leaned forward, gaze flickering black,

"So…you were holding a weapon on my best friend?"

Simon flailed next to him, shaking his head,

"Oh no, nothing like that- actually when Magnus magicked the knife back to him he startled so much he dropped it off the roof…"

Raphael blinked, eyes shifting back to normal, relaxing slightly, giving a somewhat amused chuckle, motioning for him to continue. Alec glanced over at Simon, flashing a slightly grateful smile, Simon gave him a cheerfully encouraging thumbs up, Alec continued,

"S-so anyways I asked him what he was up to…h…he said he wasn't up to anything, mentioned that he knew I'd been following him, knew the entire time…said he even backtracked a couple times so he could let me find him again…"

Raphael chuckled,

"He backtracked just so you could keep following him? Why would he do that?"

Alec flushed, shrugging,

"Umm…I-I don't know w-"

"Magnus said 'he was bored, Alec was hot'." Simon oh so helpfully offered,

Alec glanced over at him, giving a sarcastic look,

"Thanks Simon…"

He shrugged sheepishly,

"Sorry…I was trying to help."

Alec rolled his eyes,

"Uh huh…" he shook his head before looking back to Raphael nodding,

"What he said…anyways I figured it was a distraction, tried to question him, he tried to leave, I moved to stop him, we kinda fought, but it wasn't really a fight, just a…I don't know…a thing…

So one thing lead to another but we seemed pretty well matched, then I kinda saw an opening, I caught him, got him pinned and he couldn't get away…but neither could I."

Raphael laughed, tilting his head,

"Which is when you kissed him."

Alec blushed,

"No…h-he kissed me first…but umm…then...yeah…" he glanced away, fidgeting slightly, brushing his hair back,

"A-anyways…it was kinda something else and I may have got caught up in it for a bit…but then I kinda realized what exactly was happening and who it was happening with and I startled back, trying to get my bearings, wondering what I was thinking kissing this random crazy pretty green dude on a roof…

O-only then I looked up…and…"

Raphael quirked his eyebrow, giving a 'get on with it' motion,

"Aaand…?"

He shrugged,

"And…h-he wasn't green anymore. He was like really bright pink with green eyes…which really threw me and I didn't know what the whole color changing thing was about but I didn't think it could be anything good, so I just got the hell out of there…a-?"

Alec trailed off, tilting his head in confusion,

Raphael was laughing. Not the sarcastic, somewhat condescending chuckle that he's already heard far too many times but real, genuine laughter,

"What?"

Raphael laughed more shaking his head, shrugging, looking back up at Alec, quirking his eyebrow expectantly,

"Seriously? No clue what the 'color changing' thing could be?"

Alec blinked, shaking his head slowly. Raphael rolled his eyes looking expectantly over at Simon, widening his eyes a bit,

Simon shrugged sheepishly,

"I-I'm kinda at a loss with it too…sorry."

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head, reaching over, patting Simon's hand,

"Come on lindo…you got this one. Alec's done it about a dozen times since you two got here…so have you…though you pull it off far better…"

Simon blushed, giving a near giggle like laugh, glancing away before freezing, glancing back at him, eyes widening in surprise…

"I-no way…It can't be that simple?"

Raphael chuckled, shrugging,

"Sometimes the most obvious answer is the right one."

Simon gave a bright, excited laugh, shaking his head in disbelief,

"Oh my god, HOW did I miss that?! It's SO obvious!"

Raphael laughed, quickly nodding,

"It really it."

Simon huffed, covering his eyes, shaking his head,

"Dude…and you thought I was smart?"

Raphael gave a warm chuckle, settling closer. He reached up, gently pulling Simon's hand away from his eyes, lowering it back down to the lounge, idly playing with his fingers,

"You are…it's adorable…" he shrugged, flashing a bright smile,

"And to be fair with Magnus the simplest answer is almost never the right one. Just in this one, tiny little aspect."

Simon shrugged, shifting closer,

"Still I should hav-"

"Ahem…"

Simon startled, glancing over at Alec in confusion, blinking.

Alec quirked his eyebrow, Simon flailed, eyes widening,

"Oh! Sorry dude…Just figured out the color changing thing- we were majorly over thinking it."

Alec shrugged, giving a slightly annoyed wave,

"Yeah…I got that…just not what it actually meant. So the color change thing was…?"

Simon laughed, giving an animated wave,

"**Dude**\- it happened when you guys kissed…like, a lot…he was _blushing_. Apparently he just kinda blushes with his whole body…"

Alec blinked, beginning to shake his head, before pausing, giving a slight groan,

"Oh my god…wow…"

Simon huffed, nodding quickly,

"_Right?!"_

He shook his head again, glancing over at Raphael,

"I really can't believe I missed that…"

Raphael shrugged, waving him off assuredly,

"To be fair polychromatic beings are exceptionally rare- it's a kind of super recessive gene. Generally only ever turns up a few times every millennia. In the last four centuries we've only ever met two others- a demon living in a little town in Malaysia and a Fae who's never even been out of the Fairy Realm. We've seen mention of it but it's usually in ancient, all but forgotten, nearly untranslatable languages and accounts from eons ago.

As I said it's exceedingly rare."

Simon blinked, eyes sparkling bright with curiosity, bouncing slightly, leaning forward,

"Wait…there's like a term for it? Oh wow…so h-"

Alec had to bite off a groan,

He knew that look…That's the same look he has around comic con or when he runs across a totally heretofore unknown creature. He gives it a week tops before he's being flooded with random facts about this polychromatic thing.

Alec sighs leaning forward, holding his hand up trying to curtail the rapid fire excited babbling stream of questions.

"Simon…I'm sure this is really fascinating to you. It does sound interesting, but as nice as it is to have one bit of information on the guy I'd kinda like to know a bit more about him than just that it's super noticeable when he blushes."

Simon blinked, sheepishly glancing over at Raphael, shrugging,

"Uh…yeah…i-if you haven't noticed by now I kinda tend to get sidetracked like- super easy…especially about things like this. I don't mean to be rude or nosy or anything like that, I really don't. I just genuinely find all of it so fascinating…

I should tell you now basically any random supernatural trait type thing you tell me about I'm gonna kinda geek out about and probably completely bombard you with a ridiculous amount of questions… just fair warning. B-but I swear it's not like 'intelligence gathering' or whatever. I just really like learning about all this stuff and I'm kinda a nerd and have been reading comics and all that for-like- my entire life and meeting people with real actual superpowers is kinda amazing.

But I promise anytime I get too nosy or annoying or ask something I shouldn't- which gonna tell you right now will totally happen…probably quite a bit- just let me know and I'll back off…Okay?"

Raphael gave a surprised, totally charmed laugh, shaking his head, settling closer to Simon,

"I honestly cannot see that happening. Generally I am fairly guarded with anyone asking questions. I do tend to be suspicious and kind of remain on guard…If I didn't I would not be here today."

Simon faltered, nodding,

"I-"

Raphael reached over, squeezing his hand,

"However with you I know it's nothing like that. You're not 'snooping' you are trying to learn, trying to understand us, to see us as conscious, thinking, complex beings…as people, rather than just vicious monsters and the stuff of nightmares. I am MORE than happy to help with that, in any way I can.

If more Angelus Sanguis were like you this world would be a far better place."

Simon blushed brilliantly, glancing away, brushing his hair back, looking back up at Raphael almost shyly,

"W-wow…I-thank you…so much. That is like, without a doubt the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me…like…ever."

Raphael shrugged,

"It is the truth."

Simon shifted a bit closer, giving a warm, impossibly sweet smile,

Alec swallowed, yet again awkwardly clearing his throat,

Simon seemed to startle, again seemingly forgetting he was there. In general in this situation he'd be worried it was some kind of a spell but he'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind to miss the connection between the two, or the fact that if it was a spell Raphael was just as affected.

There was definitely 'magic' there, but it wasn't of the spell/supernatural variety.

He didn't know what was going on here(except for the fact that his best friend's life just got a hell of a lot more complicated).

_Damn…and he thought it was complicated just cause he'd accidently kinda made out with a supernatural…_

_Simon really never did do anything halfway…_

In any case they're getting sidetracked yet again and while the fact that his best friend is making goo-goo eyes at the single most feared demon in existence- and said demon is making them right back- is SO beyond uncomfortable it's not even funny, that's not why they're actually here…

_Also…he really doesn't want them to completely forget he's here…that could be all kinds of awkward…_

_Ugh…_

_Why does he feel like he's chaperoning a date?_

_Oh…right…cause he basically is…_

He sighs giving an apologetic shrug,

"Umm…s-sorry but we're kinda drifting again…"

Raphael gave an annoyed sigh, rolling his eyes, scooting away from Simon, shifting his focus back to Alec,

"My apologies, I keep forgetting…we are here for the sole purpose of dealing with your drama."

Alec flushed sheepishly, shaking his head,

"No I j-"

Raphael rolled his eyes, giving a flippant wave,

"Save it…let's just move on, shall we? You followed Magnus, spied on him, fought with him, pinned him and then ended up kissing him…

In general that's less a meet cute and more cause for a restraining order however as he then proceeded to find you and save your life from a threat that you had no chance in hell against I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume he was actually pretty okay with the events of the night…

So long as he doesn't tell me otherwise we are fine…"

Alec froze, a cold chill going up his spine,

_I mean he was telling the truth…that's exactly what happened…and Magnus definitely didn't seem in anyway put off by their previous encounter…if anything he was even more flirty…_

_And he saved his life AND gave him the knife…_

_S-still…_

"Umm…a-and if his story doesn't match mine?"

Raphael tilted his head, eyes flickering black, a bone chilling little smirk slipping over his features,

"You mean…what if he says you are lying and in fact you ARE stalking my best friend, my family and the single most important person in my life? What happens then?" He shifted forward, locking eyes with Alec,

"It would be bad…

**Very** Bad."

He paused, snapping his fingers a burst of pitch black flames flashing in his hands, phone appearing as the flames extinguish,

"So…Alec…I will leave it to you.

Do I call Magnus…or are you going to walk out, put Magnus and the kiss and this whole search for the truth mess out of your mind?

Which is it going to be?"

He paused, eyes shifting again, pitch black and blood red flames licking up his arms, head tilting slowly, an odd, unsettling predatory move,

"Choose carefully…

Angel."

Alec gulped, feeling a cold, terrifying chill creeping up his spine.

_H-he shouldn't do it…_

_This is too much…too much of a risk…_

He should take the second option, cut his losses, put this Magnus dude out of his mind, move on and put this whole kiss drama behind him…

He should…

That is the smart move…

The logical move…

He always does the smart thing. The safe thing. The thing that makes the most sense.

He's the down to earth, rational, play it safe guy…

That's who he is…

Who he's always been…

And really what's he trying to forget?

One admittedly hot kiss on a rooftop? A bit of a thrill. That exciting, breathless, electric buzz…

It was one kiss, a little mystery and excitement…a crazy spur of the moment thing…

A quick, spontaneous rush…

_Was this 'Magnus' guy REALLY worth the risk?_

_Really when he puts it like that the answer was pretty obvious…_

He shifts forward, taking a deep breath, setting up straighter, meeting Raphael's gaze head on,

"Make the call."

Raphael quirked his eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in those unfathomably deep eyes, a curious little quirk to his lips,

He shrugs, giving a deceptively casual wave,

"Very well…" He reaches over, hitting a button, then another turning the phone on speaker so they could hear as well.

It rings a few times the sound nearly seeming to echo in the eerie silence of the office. Finally he hears a click, the phone connecting,

"Raph? Well, hello daring! What a lovely surprise. I wasn't expecting to hear from you again tonight."

Alec's breath caught, a slight thrill going through him,

_That was him! That was really his voice, he'd fo-_

Raphael smiled, tilting his head, shifting the phone a bit, giving a slight nod,

"Hey Mags…I kinda have a bit of a situation here at the club, are you busy?"

Magnus gives a warm laugh,

"Sweetheart I'm never too busy for you, you know that."

Raphael chuckled, eyes flickering warmly,

"Thanks…it shouldn't really take too long. Just have a kind of odd, random question."

"What's that darling?"

"You're not actually stalking some random Angelus guy, right?"

There was a slight clatter,

"W-what? N-no of course not…that's absurd. Why on earth would you ask that?"

Raphael flashed a sharp smile, eyes glinting deadly onyx, the inky black and searing red flames kicking back up along his arms and hands.

"That's what I thought.

See, about an hour or so ago this tall, really uptight looking hunter with messy dark hair and weirdly light eyes wandered in asking about some 'glittery green guy' named Magnus. Actually had the nerve to claim you were stalking him, can you believe that? I figured it was a trap but thought I'd check with you just to be sure…

No worries, that's all I needed. I'll take care of it.

Sorry to bug you Mags, I promise he won't be any more trouble." The flame in his hand intensified, the phone crumpling from the heat and flame, cutting off the string of random muddled somewhat frantic babbling words on the other side of the phone. Raphael closed his hand the phone disintegrating into Jace, scattering and fluttering to the ground.

He smirked, unfathomably dark gaze zeroing in on Alec, once more locking eyes with him, flames creeping higher, flickering and flashing like hellfire,

He titled his head, flashing a quick, dangerous wink, and a terrifyingly elated smirk

"Well…this should be fun…"

_*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*_ End Of Chapter Notes _*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*_

Uhh…oh wow…that went like WAY longer than I thought…

I'd say sorry but I freaking love it!

(I know I'm evil…couldn't resist making Alec squirm)

I do SO love playfully evil Raphael…

He's always one of my favorite Raphael's…

Oh come on, you can't blame him for having a bit of fun with the guy- he does keep interrupting his flirting with Simon (Mainly simply so they know he's there and don't start like making out or whatever but still-)

Also unless it wasn't super clear I kinda have a different twist on 'demons' than is the usual view. This is true of any of my verses. I do this for a specific reason…I never really like the assertion that if a being is *this* then they're automatically evil.

My way of thinking is if a being is a sentient, intelligent being they have the capacity to choose who they are- they're not just born evil, same as they're not just automatically born 'good'…

Regardless of where their powers/abilities/strengths whatever else comes from the type of person they are is ultimately their decision.

I think most of the verses I'll have the demons be less 'malicious, possessing beings from hell' and more beings from a different realm/dimension what have you- Like Calon Tywyll in my SEM verse.

What do you guys think so far?


	6. Chapter 6-Exit Stratagy (Damnit Simon!

_**Chapter 6:**_

_**Exit Strategy (Damnit Simon! That's NOT The Plan)**_

Chapter Complete!

Kay so I know I usually have two parts to each chapter but this one's just gonna be a one parter. I have the rest of the story all planned out and adding in another part to this one would be filler at best and at worst flat out dragging it out.

Random sidebar?

I can't believe we're already getting to the last couple chapters of the first round of stories for all my verses!

All but verse 2, 7, and 9 are gonna be just 8 chapters- that means we're almost done!

I have the next two chapters for this one laid out

I have the next two in Verse 5 the Alien verse all planned out..

I have verse 7 The 40's with a twist verse planned out all the way to the freaking season finale (And That's not an exaggeration..if anything that's downplaying it. My notes for that verse are now over 100pages- a lot of which are entire scenes/snippits/1/2 chapters all worked out..)

I'm so excited to see all my new stories finished! Really can't wait.

I'm SO happy I decided to do them all at once like this- it's really helping a lot.

Hope you all are enjoying this as much as I am!

Now onto the current story..

_How will Alec get out of this one? Will his 'Knight in shining Clubwear' make it in time?_

_Lets find out…_

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _*~__Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__~*~__Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__~*_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

_Oooh….Crap._

_**Oh crap!**_

_What does he do? __**What does he do?!**_

_Oh…he majorly screwed up here…oh god, he's gonna die. He's gonna die just cause he got caught up in a hot kiss with a stupidly pretty sparkly green guy and couldn't just let it go…_

_He SO should've just played it safe!_

_The ONE time he does the reckless, out of character thing has really managed to turn around and bite him in the ass fast._

_Might be a record._

_The single most feared Supernatural in existence is convinced he's some scheming, lying, creepy ass stalker who's set his sights on his best friend-_

_His__** Family…**_

_Oh god…he's gonna die._

Raphael is setting totally still, it reminds Alec of the way a cat stills, coils, just before it pounces on some poor, unsuspecting little mouse. Raphael's looking at him, staring, head tilted curiously, pitch black eyes shimmering bright and dangerous, something in those impossibly deep dark depths sparking and flickering like hellfire. It's unlike anything Alec has ever seen and sends a chill through him he feels deep down in his bones.

The flames are higher, sparking and shimmering with heat, with an unmistakable power that radiates throughout the room, inky black and blood red spires dancing and flickering about his arms up over his shoulders. He's not glaring…he's smirking which is actually SO much worse. It's sharp and utterly calm, kinda excited and unmistakably predatory. It's like he's mentally cataloging all the ways he can kill him, make him suffer, trying to go through the roster and pick where to start…

T-that could take a while…

From everything he's heard of the demon that is one hell of a long list…

_Oh god…_

Alec swallowed nervously, taking a couple deep breaths trying to steady himself. Doing his absolute best to stay as still as possible knowing enough to avoid any sudden movements. He takes a few more deep breaths, trying his best to get his heartbeat to a less worrisome rate, keep himself from panicking and just making a run for it…

They had a cat growing up…

He knows how that strategy ends up turning out for the mouse.

This was not the time for panic…panic equals dead here…

_Wait! The spell! The…w-what was it? Ex-Dei-something or other, Oh who cares what it's called right now!_

The protection spell thing- the safe place spell. Violence is prohibited here. Violence is IMPOSSIABLE here! Oh! They're safe! Oh thank goodness. Okay…okay…he's good. The spell's in place. The spell that's been on Chaos for centuries. The super strong and unbelievably powerful spell, so strong you can actually feel i-

_Wait…_

_W-why can't he feel it?_

He felt it in the club downstairs, and all through the top floor, he knows he did because it's kinda an odd, tingly feeling and it was kinda distracting…

_Why doesn't he feel the weird tingly protective spell feel now?_

_When did it stop?_

_When d-_

_Ooh…oh crap._

It stopped the second they entered the office.

_**Raphael's **__office…_

The supervillianish office with wall décor that is made up entirely of very sharp, very deadly, very dangerous weapons…

Oh joy…

So it's not just the Demon's actual powers he has as options for dealing with his best friend's creepy stalker…

It's the entire bladed freaking arsenal decorating the walls.

_**Who has wall décor that doubles as an armory!?**_

The single most feared Supernatural in existence and head of the demon faction apparently.

Alec sees Raphael's eyes flicker, that hellfire like reflection intensifying, eyebrow raising slightly, smirk quirking up just a tiny bit at the edge…

He knows Alec just figured it out.

_Oh god…can the damn demon read minds too?!_

_Or is he just that skilled?_

_Or m-_

_Oh my god Alec, SO not the time to be quibbling over stupid little details!_

You are in a room completely festooned with deadly weapons and the single most feared demon in existence who's smirking and sparking, lighting up like the world's most terrifying Christmas tree and has it in his head that you're a creepy ass stalker who's targeting 'the single most important person in his life'.

This is NOT the time to get caught up in details.

This is the time to figure out a way to get the hell out of here alive and hopefully in one piece.

Okay, breathe…and think.

He had to approach this logically, form a plan, an escape, a way to get him and Jos-

_**Simon!**_

The demon liked Simon and Simon liked Alec…

He may be able to work with this.

Simon liked the demon. Demon liked Simon. Simon and Demon are _SO_ headed towards a boyfriend's type relationship. Simon would be annoyed if his new soon to be boyfriend killed his best friend.

_Okay…that could work._

T-that might be something he could use. He hated thinking that cause he'd never actually 'use' his best friend. That's crappy and cowardly and not in any way, shape or form Alec.

He would never 'use' Simon like some kind of bargaining chip.

That being said he may not be totally above kinda quietly ducking behind him while he does his cute, charmingly adorable Simon 'thing' and gets the demon to a less flame-y, smirky, predatory death and destruction type of mindset…

That's the plan;

Simon.

Get Simon to start talking again. Just being his usual totally disarming, adorable self like he has been since they got here. Doing his totally-not-flirting-flirting thing and he should be good. A few cute, sweet smiles and babbling, ramblings and blushing and that giggly little laugh like he's been doing and the demon will forget all about boring old Alec. It's already worked a couple times; he just needed it to work once more.

It's all up to Simon. Just let him do his blushing, flailing, apparently totally demon king enchanting thing and they'll be home free…

_O-okay…_

_Okay…there might be a shot, a chance…_

_It might be alr-_

"Wow, you can be a REAL ass when you want to be."

_**Damnit Simon! That is NOT the plan!**_

Alec flailed, eyes widening, head whipping over to look at his adorable idiot of a best friend who has apparently lost his damn mind. Maybe it's like fumes from being that close to the demon magic or something.

_Oh for the love of g-_

He's glaring!

He's glaring at the Demon!

_**What the hell Simon?!**_

Don't glare at the demon! Glaring at the demon is NOT the plan damnit! Flirt! Flail! Blush! Smile! Do that oddly sweet giggly laugh type thing! Do something cute and charming!

_Don't-_

Simon rolled his eyes, glaring more, turning in his seat to face the demon, eyes sharp, shoulders tense.

_Do that…_

_Ah crap. Again…_

He knows that look. That's Simon's 'you're being a jackass and a bully and you need to grow the hell up and knock it off' look. The guy's the sweetest person you'll ever meet but he has a stubborn, protective streak a mile wide. Someone messing with him is one thing; he'll usually just ignore them or let it go unless it's really bad, but someone bullying someone else is another thing entirely.

It's usually not much of an issue. Normally when he needs to Simon can hold his own pretty good…

But 'normally' is about the farthest thing from where they are right about now.

Oh this is SO not good.

Raphael blinked in surprise, glancing over at him in faint confusion, probably thinking he must have misheard…

Understandable reaction. Probably not too often the most feared demon in existence gets called an ass right to his face.

"Wha-"

Simon shook his head, raising his eyebrow, gesturing flippantly towards the demon then over to Alec.

"You know what; you're being a total ass! Tormenting poor Alec there just to see him squirm because you find it amusing and he happened to interrupt you a couple times which okay, yeah probably wasn't the best thing but as we both totally forgot he was even here is pretty understandable.

I know that you have a kinda off, dark, slightly twisted sense of humor and I have no doubt there are PLENTY of hunters that probably totally have that kind of tormenting thing coming but Alec is not one of them. You're being rude and obnoxious and we both know damn good and well you're just bluffing anyways so you need to knock it the hell off."

_Oh god, he's SO gonna die…_

_Damnit Simon._

Raphael gave a slightly disbelieving huff of a laugh, quirking his eyebrow, eyes doing that flashy hellfire type thing, flames kicking up just a touch, turning slightly to better see Simon, crossing his arms, leaning in.

"I'm 'bluffing'?"

Simon quirked his eyebrow right back, eyes bright and challenging, leaning in as well, giving a sharp, tight nod.

"Yes you are."

Raphael tilted his head curiously.

"You seem quite sure of that lindo…it's a pretty big gamble if you're wrong."

Simon shrugged, leaning in more, barely a foot from the flickering, licking flames

"It would be if I was, but I'm not."

Raphael leaned in as well, eyes flickering over Simon, head tilting in that odd, near predatory type way.

"You are sure of that, hmm?"

Simon again nodded; meeting those terrifying, impossibly black eyes without flinching,

"Positive.

You don't hurt innocents; you don't hurt people who are not an active threat. You don't. Every last account I've read about you shows that. I am absolutely certain of it."

Raphael shifted closer, dark gaze flickering from Simon's eyes down to his lips before slipping back up.

"Certain enough to stake your lives?"

Simon shrugged, eyebrow quirking challengingly, leaning in just a little more.

"Isn't that what I'm doing?"

_Oh god, he is SO gonna di-_

Raphael made a soft, kind of excited humming, growl like sound, blinking, shaking his head faintly, flames kicking up even higher, eyes flickering bright and excited, giving a low, warm chuckle, glancing back up at Simon, shaking his head again.

"Damn…I was _**definitely**_ right about you."

Simon blinked in confusion_(Alec was right there with him)._

"Right about me?"

Raphael chuckled again, nodding, the flames beginning to extinguish, flickering out of existence as easily as they'd sparked to life.

"Absolutely."

Simon tilted his head,

"Right about what?"

Raphael made that soft humming sound again, those dark, flashing eyes taking on a warm, amused light, flickering again from Simon's eyes down to his lips, lingering before slowly sliding back up, smirk shifting from challenging and dangerous to flirty and almost playful, settling closer still.

"About you being trouble."

_Uh…o-okay…Apparently the demon LIKED the whole challenging, confrontational thing…_

_Alec didn't exactly want to know what like, 'did it' for the freaking demon king, but so long as he's not looking like he's plotting they're deaths he's just gonna take what he can get here…_

_One thing's for certain, unless Simon seems uncomfortable he sure as hell is not interrupting a damn thing. They 'forget' he's here again he'll just use the distraction to slip out, go have a drink in the safe, protected part of the bar that's décor wasn't made up entirely of shiny, flashy objects of death._

Simon faltered a second, blushing faintly, before shaking it off, clearing his throat, trying to muster up the angry look again…It wasn't quite as agitated as earlier but it was a good attempt.

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"Don't think acting all flirty is gonna make me forget the jackassery."

Raphael laughed, dark brown once again human looking eyes sparkling bright.

"Jackassery? I didn't even say anything to him! I was just setting here."

Simon scoffed, rolling his eyes again, turning all the way on the lounge, one arm stretching along the back towards Raphael, other gesturing animatedly.

"Oh please! Don't act all innocent!"

Raphael smirked, reaching up, lightly trailing his fingers along Simon's arm on the back of the lounge, winking playfully.

"Simon? I'm the leader of the demon faction and one of the most feared Supernaturals in existence- I have never been accused of doing ANYTHING 'innocent'."

Simon gave a surprised laugh, shaking his head.

"Don't be cute."

Raphael blinked, quirking his eyebrow, a slightly impish smirk tugging at his lips.

"I get 'cute' less than I get 'innocent'."

Simon tried to fight off another laugh, covering his eyes, trying to retain his annoyance, but there was a tiny little beginning of a smirk that just wouldn't go away, he huffed.

"Damnit, stop it! You know exactly what you're doing. Just like you knew exactly what you were doing with Alec.

You didn't have to 'say' anything, and you knew it damn good and well. I was right here; it wasn't some misunderstanding or a hunter panicking because they're in the same room as 'THE' Raphael Santiago. It was completely intentional. You were totally screwing with my best friend just for the hell of it."

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head, holding a finger up.

"Okay, _technically_ I was trying to screw with MY best friend. Your best friend just happened to be in the room at the time and began reacting."

Simon blinked, tilting his head.

"Trying t-" He trailed off, groaning faintly, giving a slight wave.

"The flaming phone thing…he'd hear it- probably know the sound right off the bat, right?"

Raphael shrugged, giving a slight nod.

"I've known Magnus over four centuries, almost my entire life- it's near impossible to get one over on him or catch the guy off guard. Have to take any opportunity I can…" He paused, glancing over at Alec, flashing a near playful smirk.

"Alec here is one hell of an opportunity…

Haven't heard Mags that rattled since the thing in Peru. Over a century later and we're STILL banned from the entire country. Can only hope he didn't knock over anything too dangerous in his haste to get here…though if we get word of sightings of sudden aurora borealis, a tornado of glitter or a random volcano sprouting up on the east side we know why."

Simon laughed, shaking his head, relaxing a bit, giving a slightly exasperated huff, quirking his eyebrow.

"Okay that explains the phone. And the death glare, pyrotechnics show? What's the explanation for that?"

He settled closer, holding a finger up.

"That was…uh…okay, yeah, no explanation, that was absolutely just screwing with Alec."

Simon gave a surprised laugh.

"Seriously? Not even gonna try to come up one?"

Raphael scoffed faintly, giving a flippant wave.

"I'm a demon…and he interrupted me."

"That's no excuse."

He shrugged, smirking.

"Kinda is. Be enough of one for most Angelus Sanguis."

Simon shrugged right back,

"Well I'm not 'Most Angelus Sanguis'."

Raphael smiled, settling a bit closer, eyes glimmering black, gaze slipping from Simon's eyes down to his lips before moving back up again, giving a slight sigh and a faint nod.

"So I've noticed."

Simon blushed, glancing away kinda shyly, brushing his hair back, shifting a bit closer, looking up again meeting Raphael's gaze.

"I still don't like you tormenting my best friend."

Raphael chuckled, tilting his head in acknowledgment, placatingly holding his hand up.

"Noted…I'll try not to do it too much. But I really can't make any promises…it's instinct."

Simon shook his head faintly.

"What do you mean?"

Raphael shrugged.

"Demons can sense emotions, in particular the more negative ones- pain, panic, fear, anger, jealously. We sense the physical cues to them; raised heart rate, breathing patterns, sudden elevated levels of **adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortiso from the fight or flight response, that kind of thing."**

**Simon blinked in surprise.**

"**What? Like seriously? So basically you guys are like human lie detectors?"**

**Raphael gave a surprised laugh, eyes sparking warmly, shrugging.**

"**Pretty much, yeah."**

**Simon bounced excitedly.**

"**Dude! That is so cool! I didn't know that! I've never seen anything like that. And I've read everything we have on demons…like ****_everything_****, everything. Even the old dusty, water stained copy of The Cartea De Foc ****ș****i Umbre**** that they have in the basement part of the library with the flickering lights and the weird smell…And I've never seen that."**

**Raphael chuckled, nodding.**

"**It's not really something we generally let hunters in on- always good to have a few tricks up your sleeve after all. Plus it's kind of a baser instinct thing…Most hunters see us as evil, soulless monsters. The knowledge that we have senses quite literally designed to let us sniff out and target weaknesses doesn't really do much to dissuade that image."**

**Simon deflated a bit, giving a slight nod.**

"**Yeah I could definitely see that…so why are you telling us?"**

**He shrugged.**

"**As you said you are not most **Angelus Sanguis…

Unfortunately…

This world would be a far better place if there were more like you. As I said I'm more than happy to help someone who genuinely wants to understand us."

Simon blushed, smiling.

"Thank you."

Raphael smiled, shifting a bit closer.

"It is just the truth." he paused, tilting his head, looking over Simon curiously.

"Hmm… I wasn't aware there was a translated copy of **The Cartea De Foc ****ș****i Umbre. I've never seen one not in ****Limbajul demonilor."**

**Simon faltered, shrugging.**

"**Umm…t-there's not…"**

**Raphael blinked in surprise.**

"**You can read Limbajul demonilor? Po****ț****i s****ă**** vorbe****ș****ti?"**

**Simon chuckled, smiling, giving a kinda yes and no hand gesture.**

"**Understand it? Yes, quite well in fact. I'm actually perfectly fluent. Actually speak it and pronounce it properly? Dude, you so do not want to hear that, it would be so bad it's actually insulting."**

**Raphael gave a bright chuckle, shaking his head faintly.**

"**H-how is that? It was my understanding learning demonic languages was totally forbidden for Angelus Sanguis?"**

**Simon blushed, brushing his hair back, fidgeting a bit.**

"**Uh, y-yeah…it is. But umm…I really like to read and learn about, well, nearly everything- especially supernatural stuff- and I kinda finished all the info we had in English and Latin a while ago and so I maybe kinda, sort of taught myself a few of them so I could read more."**

**Raphael gave a surprised laugh, leaning closer.**

"**A few? How many is a few?"**

**Simon bit his lip, thinking, giving a slight shrug…**

"**Oh…uh…about…five? No wait six…though my Declara****ț****ia demonilor is still pretty spotty."**

**Raphael laughed, shaking his head in amazement. He smiled, reaching over, lightly resting his hand on Simon's arm, squeezing.**

"**_Wow…"_**

**Simon flushed, giving a cute, shy little laugh, shrugging faintly, settling closer.**

"**Umm…thanks…a-again." he flushed brighter, brushing his hair back, shyly glancing up.**

"**So umm...I think I kinda got you sidetracked. You were saying about the demon sense, lie detector type thing?"**

**Raphael chuckled, nodding quickly.**

"**Right…anyways as I was saying the response is kinda automatic. **If I sense those things in someone I'm gonna respond, it's instinctual, can't really help it too often… but for you I will try…at least with Alec.

Besides Mags would probably be kinda snippy if I tormented his little crush too terribly bad and the last time I really annoyed him I ended up with hot pink hair for over a month…really can't chance that again."

Simon gave a surprised laugh, eyes sparkling bright.

"You're kidding!"

He shook his head, sighing.

"Wish I was.

As I said I cannot make any promises, but I will try my best. Besides think of it as a test. I had to be sure Alec here didn't spook too easily. I know you don't know him but believe me Mags is a LOT to handle." he paused, shifting back to Alec, giving a slight chuckle.

"Honestly? You really have no idea the insanity you're courting. The bright colors, flare, sparkles and all the eye catching, attention drawing details? They're not just an over the top style choice, they're a warning.

Think of it like a poison dart frog.

The reason he doesn't mind standing out is because he knows without a shadow of a doubt that he's more of a threat than most anything he's gonna come into contact with. You got a hint of his abilities dealing with the canisumbra but that is not even scratching the surface as to what the man is fully capable of.

You think _**I**_ give your elders nightmares?

If they had any idea Magnus was around they'd likely never sleep again."

Alec gulped.

"Oookay…that's a bit disturbing…" he paused, something occurring to him, he tilted his head curiously.

"Wait…s-so we're good, right? You don't think I'm some creepy stalker threatening your best friend?"

Raphael quirked his eyebrow, giving a slight chuckle.

"Alec? Adorable, charming, completely disarming best friend or not, if I thought for even one second you were in any way, shape or form a legitimate threat to Magnus you'd of been dead the second we entered this office."

Alec gulped, tensing right back up, glancing over at Simon. Simon swallowed nodding faintly, gaze flickering over to Alec.

"Uhh…That wasn't a bluff."

Raphael sighed, glancing from Alec over to Simon with a slightly apologetic shrug and faint wave.

"Look, I'm not threatening, I'm just being honest. You are right Simon. I would almost never hurt an innocent or someone who wasn't an active, legitimate threat. That being said Magnus Bane IS my family, and there is _**absolutely**_ nothing I wouldn't do in order to protect him.

Nothing.

I sincerely doubt there's much of anything any one single hunter could do that'd legitimately be a threat to the man, but I would not take the chance.

Someone sets out to hurt my family I do not care how unlikely their chances of success are. I don't care about the fact that Magnus could without a doubt totally obliterate them. If I sense a threat against him first I will put them down _long_ before they get anywhere near him.

For a long time he was the only person I had that I could really trust, _really_ count on. He was literally all that I had. Magnus has saved my life more times than I can count, and I've done the same for him. We have been to hell and back together so often we can navigate the trip blindfolded with both hand hands tied behind our backs…

And that's not hyperbole.

We have.

A few times.

He is flat out the only reason I am alive today.

I don't care how little of a chance they'd actually have, if there's someone truly planning to cause him harm they will have to go through me first. That's just how it is. And I want to make sure you understand that before he gets here." He shifted back to Alec, leaning forward, locking eyes with him, gaze flickering like impossibly black flames…

"Magnus Bane is my family.

If you hurt him that is the last thing you will ever do.

Am I clear?"

Alec swallowed, nodding.

"Y-yes." He swallowed again setting up straighter, nodding again.

"I do understand. I feel the same way. If someone was threatening one of my siblings or Simon? There's nothing I wouldn't do to protect them…

There just isn't.

You protect your family…it's what you do."

He stared for a moment, eyes flickering, shifting over Alec, seemingly reading every last thing, looking for the slightest hint of dishonesty. Finally he nodded, flashing a faint smile, the tension in the room dissipating so fast he feels his ears pop from the sudden pressure change.

"Good, we're on the same page."

Simon relaxes a bit, slumping faintly, flashing a relieved smile and a subtle thumbs up. Alec smiled back at him gratefully, before pausing, no longer terrified brain going over the rest of the conversation now that the threat has passed, picking up on something. He glanced over at Raphael.

"Wait, you think Magnus is on his way here, like right now?"

Raphael chuckled, eyes sparking bright, nodding.

"Oh most definitely."

Alec couldn't help a little thrill at that, shifting forward trying not to seem too terribly eager.

"So, about when do you think he'll g-"

He's cut off by a sound almost like the rumble of distant thunder…only it's not staying distant, it's approaching fast. The air in the room begins circulating, swirling, a dark, undulating mass of pitch black and electric violet clouds forming just below the ceiling, swirling churning and twisting, shot through with brilliant bolts of lightning. The lights flash and flicker, entire room trembling, filling with a buzzing electric energy like standing out in the middle of a storm.

Raphael flashed a smirk, shrugging.

"Oh, right about now."

_*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*_ End Of Chapter Notes _*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*___*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*_____*___*_

**Cartea De Foc ****ș****i Umbre**** = Book Of Fire And Shadows**

**Po****ț****i s****ă**** vorbe****ș****ti?= Can you speak it?**

**Declara****ț****ia demonilor= ****Declaration of Demons**

**(FYI I was gonna use Latin translations but my version of Word doesn't have it in the translator and I'm too lazy to go online every time I need a new phrase…**

**In a couple of my other verses I've started using Romanian to switch it up for new words- seems to fit pretty well so I'm just gonna use that here too.**

**Oh my gosh! I SO love this verse…**

**Sweet, adorable Simon is great, but I am really developing a fondness for sassy snarky Simon.**

**So, what do you guys think so far?**


	7. Chapter 7-Knight In Shining Clubwear Ret

_**Chapter 7:**_

_**Knight In Shining Clubwear Returns…**_

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _*~__Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__~*~__Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__~*_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

_Oookay…um…t-this is what he was going for…_

_H-he thinks…_

_The room shaking, indoor storm, wave of sheer, unmistakable, power may have him kinda second guessing that._

He knew the guy was powerful- that was obvious. He took out seven hell beasts that Alec thought were all but invincible- and he'd done it like it was nothing. Flat out said he'd faced things that made them look like nothing…and after the fight Alec damn well believed it. But there's 'obviously powerful' and then there's 'Makes the Demon kings abilities seem nearly tame in comparison' kinda powerful.

He swallowed, blinking faintly, looking up at the swirling, churning mass of thunderclouds shot through with white hot, electric violet lightning, shivering at the near oppressive wave of power he felt sweep through the room.

He gulped.

_Yeah…he may not have thought this entirely through._

The clouds seem to part slightly, a glimmering, impossibly dark violet abyss opening in the center of the swirling, churning chaos. A sleek, lithe figure dropped down, landing agilely in a crouch, a shockwave rippling out across the office, probably felt through the entire building- hell possibly further. He sprung to his feet, head shifting, power radiating from him, eyes flashing bright as the electric violet lightning above, glowing brilliant and dangerous, bizarrely iridescent violet flames and electric sparks dancing from his hands up over his shoulders creating an ethereal, otherworldly aura like glow.

"_**Raphael Santiago!" **_The entire room quaked with the voice, it reverberated off the walls becoming a near physical thing that shot straight through you, something you could feel clear deep down in your very bones.

_Whoa… _

"_**Don't you d-…**_

Alexander?"__He trailed off, catching sight of Alec sitting- startled and wide eyed but otherwise unharmed- in the red leather wingbacked chair. He blinked in surprise, flames flickering down a bit, head tilting curiously.

Alec swallowed, giving a slight wave.

"Umm…H-hey Magnus…."

He blinked again in confusion, glancing around, taking in the room; Alec's rather dumbstruck expression, the annoyingly smirking demon with the quirked, thoroughly unimpressed eyebrows and 'gotcha' expression, and Simon with his impossibly wide eyes, mouth slightly open, frozen in shock and total amazement, near buzzing with energy_ (Oh man when he snapped out of it it's gonna be something else). _He lingered a moment on Simon before shifting back again to Alec, swallowing, the flames dissipating a bit more. Hesitantly he tilted his head.

"Alexander? You are alright?"

Alec gulped, nodding quickly.

"Y-yeah…I'm good…uhh…a-admittedly a bit rattled, but otherwise good…

You?"

He gave a surprised huff of a laugh, shrugging, relaxing slightly, the wave of power dissipating to just a dull little buzz.

"Same…

What on earth are you doing in Chaos?"

Alec faltered faintly, shrugging.

"Uh…l-looking for you?"

Magnus blinked in surprise, flashing a playfully flirtatious smirk, slipping a bit closer, giving a slight shrug, gesturing to himself.

"Well you've found me gorgeous…now what?"

Alec flushed brightly.

"Umm…"

_Good question…_

_Crap! Now what? He was so focused on finding the guy he never even thought about what he'd say when he actually did! He thought he'd have more time…how did he know Simon's very first idea would work out? That never happens! The guy's all kinds of brilliant but also kinda all over the place-_

_He figured he'd had a few false starts…He'd __**planned**__ for a few false starts…_

_He thought he'd have time- they were just starting this…_

_Damn Simon and his stupidly smart, bat crap crazy shot in the dark._

Magnus chuckled, quirking his eyebrow, pretty, bright violet eyes sparkling in amusement.

"I am curious; how did you ever think to look for me here? That was quite clever… and very brave. Must admit I'm impressed sweetheart."

Raphael gave a slightly scoffing laugh and a dismissive wave.

"Don't be- that was all Simon."

Alec knew he had more pressing things at hand than glaring at the scoffing demon, but even so he did. Raphael raised his eyebrow challengingly, eyes flickering black, onyx and blood red flames flickering back up.

Simon snapped out of it, rolling his eyes, nudging him.

"Thought you said you'd try?"

Raphael glanced over.

"This IS me trying."

Simon huffed.

"Well, try harder."

Raphael chuckled, quirking his eyebrow, flames kicking up a bit, eyes glimmering black, giving a teasingly challenging smirk.

"You are quite pushy Angel."

Simon blushed slightly at the insult/nickname/term of endearment/descriptor whatever, but quirked his eyebrow right back.

"And you're kinda an ass when you want to be. We've already established this - it is no longer news."

Raphael made that appreciative little humming, growl type sound, eyes sparking in interest at the reaction, slipping closer, giving a slight shrug.

"But still so _very_ interesting…"

Simon waited expectantly. Finally Raphael chuckled, rolling his eyes, giving a slightly conceding tilt of his head.

"_Fine_…I will try harder.

Just for you…

Angel."

Simon blushed brighter, glancing away, not entirely able to stop a slightly giddy, giggly bit of a laugh.

"Umm…t-thank you."

Raphael shrugged, eyes flickering over him again, settling a little closer.

"Of course lindo."

Simon shifted closer as well, tilting his head curiously.

"Wh-"

"Ahem…So…Simon is it?"

He startled faintly, glancing from Raphael over to Magnus. He gasped, bouncing excitedly, giving an adorably animated wave.

"Oh! Hi! Yeah that's me, sorry," He blinked, giving an excited, near giggle of a laugh, bright golden eyes sparkling eagerly.

_Aaand here it goes…_

Alec braced as best he could.

"Wow! Alec was right you really are pretty! It's SO cool to get to meet you. Alec told me all about you- well what he knew which wasn't a hell of a lot-that's why we're here cause he had no clue and he told me about it and I had no clue- and that's saying something cause I'm one of the few ancillaries who read the material for fun and if you were in anything I'd see it and I'd of already blabbered on to Alec incessantly about you cause _**dude**_ no way a kickass, mixed powered, sparkly, color changing being would NOT catch my attention- like ALL the attention.

So I knew we didn't have anything on you but I also knew this place was protected and a favorite hangout for the most powerful Supernaturals which-hello is _**so**_ obviously you- and I didn't think we'd be lucky enough to actually find you here but I thought since Raphael is well you know…_**Raphael**_ he'd have to know something.

I can't believe we actually found you at our first stop! I'm not usually that lucky with my plans but I figured it'd be a really good starting point and with the Ex diebus spell it was safe enough to give it a shot.

Alec told me everything he knew but he didn't really have much to tell except the ridiculously pretty, obviously powerful, color changing, great kisser thing which really didn't help much but he did tell me everything about the rescue on the roof and the canisumbra attack and the swirling cloud portal thing and the Wileere Blade- which dude! That is like the coolest thing ever! I know you told him about it but he wasn't really paying attention because of the whole ridiculously pretty Knight in Shining Clubwear and slobbering pack of death thing but if you have time I'd love to know more about it- and like literally anything else you could tell me cause whoa that entrance was something else!"

Magnus blinked at the rapid fire Simon-speak trying to decipher it all…

Alec held his breath, really hoping he couldn't…

Magnus's pretty violet eyes sparkled bright, glancing over at Alec curiously.

_Crap…he deciphered…_

"Knight In Shining Clubwear?"

Alec blushed, pointing emphatically.

"Uhh…I did not call you that- that was all Simon."

Magnus chuckled, winking playfully at Alec.

"Well by all means please feel free to start- Think I have a new favorite nickname…especially if _**you**_ call me it _Alexander_…"

Alec flushed even brighter _(Damnit, he just said his name- how the hell did he make it sound like THAT? It sounded like something he'd whisper when t-_

_Umm…n-nope, nothing…not going there)._

Magnus's eyes sparked brighter, eyebrow quirking.

"So…I'm a great kisser, hmm…?"

Alec sent a faintly annoyed glare over at his chatterbox of a best friend. Simon startled, seemingly just now going over all the babble, wincing faintly, sheepishly mouthing 'sorry'.

Alec huffed, sarcastically mouthing back 'thanks', glancing over at Magnus, holding his finger up.

"I-I did not say that…"

Raphael gave a sharp laugh.

"Well you did come to the preferred hangout of the most powerful Supernaturals in the city with the intention of questioning the head of the demon faction all in an effort to find a bit of information in the hopes of tracking him down…

It was somewhat heavily implied."

Simon huffed, glancing over, Raphael chuckled, shaking his head.

"Hey that wasn't intimidating- it was snarking. I made no promises about snarking and I will make none. If I cut out that as well as the intimidating you are seriously limiting my choices of conversation for the evening."

Magnus chuckled, nodding, flashing an impish smile Simon's way.

"He has a point; toss in sarcasm and eyerolling and he may as well just leave the room."

Raphael laughed, giving a conceding shrug.

"True…"

Magnus smiled, sharp violet eyes flickering from Simon over to the Demon, meeting his eyes, lingering before pointedly shifting back to Simon.

Alec had to do a double take.

_Huh…He'd never thought he'd see the freaking demon king nervous…_

"Actually Simon darling, I am rather curious as to how you even got him to agree to the intimidating part. It generally takes me threats of day glow hair and turning his suits to match to get those kinds of results.

How long have you two known each other? I don't mean to pry-"

Raphael scoffed,

"_Since when?"_

Magnus smirked, continuing right along totally ignoring the interruption.

"But you are sitting less than a foot away from one of the most feared Supernaturals known to exist; and yet you don't seem intimidated at all. In fact you seem quite content to stay exactly like that.

It usually takes people quite a while to adjust to Raph- if they ever do…yet you seem perfectly comfortable…Almost cozy even." He paused, glancing over at Raphael, quirking his eyebrow impishly.

"You wouldn't actually keep a boyfriend secret from me, would you Raph?"

Raphael huffed, nodding emphatically.

"Yes, without a doubt. As long as inhumanly possible."

Magnus gasped.

"What? Why?"

Raphael chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"Because you're _**you**_**."**

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

He snorted,

"Oh don't even try that, you know damn good and well what it means. You are nosy and meddling and way too hyper and get WAY too excited and helpful if I show even the slightest bit of interest in anyone…"

"_I do not!"_

"Mags? You saw me talk for less than twenty minutes with that foc-zână guy Blaine at one of your parties and you spent the next month making us 'accidently' run into each other."

"I di-"

"I wasn't interested and I got to thinking he was following me-

I stopped going to my favorite coffee place just to avoid running into him!"

Magnus shrugged.

"Well it was an honest mistake- you were talking to him far longer than you normally would without snarking, insulting, or intimidating…and you were being nice and charming…

I thought you were interested."

Raphael rolled his eyes, gesturing towards one of the many- MANY- sharp, gleaming, bladed objects of death adorning the walls.

"Yes I was…In the Steaua morții he had that he was planning on getting rid of. Which I bought from him later that evening."

Magnus huffed.

"You know you could have just told me that."

Raphael gave a flailing wave.

"I did! You didn't believe me! Thought I was making up an excuse to 'throw you off'."

Magnus scoffed, giving a flickering wave.

"I know what I saw- there were definite sparks there."

Raphael groaned, rolling not only his eyes but his whole head.

"Yeah…but only in the _literal_ sense- we both have fire based abilities."

Magnus quirked his eyebrow, gaze shifting pointedly over to Simon before flickering back to Raphael, flashing a slightly smug smirk.

"Well as far as I know Ancillaries do not possess any flame based abilities. Are you gonna tell me I'm 'imagining' the sparks here too? Also I am _quite_ familiar with your methods of intimidation and generally you don't go about calling people by sweet little nicknames like 'Angel' and 'Cutie' as a tactic…"

He faltered, shrugging.

"You do…"

Magnus tilted his head in acknowledgment.

"Hmm…true.

Though if it IS an intimidation tactic it doesn't seem to be very effective as the darling is all but cuddled up next to your side. In fact I have a feeling if Alexander and I weren't here that's exactly where he'd be…

And unless I'm mistaken you do not mind that in the least.

So…you are relaxed around him enough to tease and flirt and practically cuddle up and you have even agreed to play nice- something which once again generally takes neon threats for me to accomplish- and he is comfortable enough to practically cuddle up with the single most feared demon known to exist AND even call said demon out for being a jackass…

Which you do…a lot…

A fact he seems more than familiar with.

So how long has this been going on? Or am I again 'reading it wrong?'"

Simon swallowed nervously, shifting closer, holding up a finger to interject.

"U-um…actually…you kind of are."

Magnus blinked in surprise, shifting his focus from the somewhat squirming_ (yes after all his tormenting Alec was enjoying this __**immensely**__) _demon over to Simon.

"How's that dear?"

Simon shrugged, brushing his hair back, glancing kinda shyly over at Raphael, flashing a soft gently, reassuring smile.

"W-well, umm…I don't know about all of the other stuff- though as a point of fact he DID call Alec 'Angel' and that was totally a torment-y, taunting, obnoxious kinda thing…he didn't call him 'cutie' though…" He paused glancing over.

"So when di-"

Raphael shrugged, a soft blush appearing on his cheeks _(Wow…Simon apparently could literally make a demon blush…the Demon King no less…who'd of guessed?)_

"Lindo…"

Simon flushed brighter, nodding like a bobble head.

"Oh…umm…thanks- again…" He cleared his throat, glancing near shyly away from Raphael, focusing back on Magnus, continuing on.

"B-but umm… w-we really did just meet for the first time tonight when me and Alec came here. He hasn't been hiding anything from you."

Magnus tilted his head, a flicker of curious amusement in his pretty, glimmering violet eyes, clearly already totally charmed.

"Well that is a relief.- I don't think the darling could manage to hide something so big from me for too long but he is a clever, devious, sneakily plotting little thing when he wants to be…which…in truth it's _**Raph**_\- that is most of the time."

Simon laughed faintly, nodding, glancing over kinda playfully.

"Yeah…I kinda got that…"

Raphael chuckled, shrugging, not even bothering trying to deny it, settling a bit closer to Simon. Magnus's eyes flickered, lighting excitedly.

"Well I can certainly see how Raph here was so charmed so very quickly but I must admit I am rather confused as to how you are so calm around him darling. I mean I know he'd never be a threat to someone as sweet and delightful as you but how is it you do?"

Simon flushed, glancing over kinda sheepishly.

"Umm…w-well like I said, we did just meet today but I've actually been reading about him for years…I almost feel like I know him already. See, if you can't tell I'm kinda a nerd and have read a lot about Supernaturals and he's kinda one of the most well known Supernaturals around.

I-I've kinda read everything I could find on him…a-and there's like an _insane_ amount. I mean of course all the stuff that isn't in demonic languages is just hunters accounts so it's kinda crazy bias and specifically designed to paint him in like the absolute worst possible light but like I said I've been reading this stuff for as long as I can remember. I know how to read between the lines and fill in the blanks.

With Raphael there's a LOT between the lines, you just need to know how to read it."

Magnus smiled, eyes flickering warmly, shifting to a more pinkish violet, glancing over at Raphael, eyes lighting a bit more with affection, giving a faint nod.

"Truer words were never said."

Raphael blushed faintly, giving a slight huff, rolling his eyes.

"Hey now, none of that. You know that sappy crap makes me itchy."

Magnus rolled his eyes right back, chuckling, waving him off.

"Well suck it up sweetheart. You have an adorable, feisty little spitfire here who's smart as a whip and doesn't want to flee into the night the second you stomp your foot…

I'm calling that a win- need to make sure I talk you up enough to keep the cutie around."

He shrugged, settling on the arm of Alec's chair, leaning slightly against his side, stretching his arm out along the back, hand dangling down, fingers lightly brushing against Alec's shoulder distractingly.

Alec swallowed nervously, feeling his heartbeat pick up a few ticks.

_Wow… he smells good…_

Raphael's eyes flickered from Magnus over to Alec, quirking his eyebrow, a slight flicker of a knowing smirk flashing.

_Oh crap…the Demon lie detector thing-_

_They could actually sense physical cues like heart rate, breathing and all that…Things related to fear and panic…_

_But…uh…that's not the only thing that made your heart race and your breath catch…And the demon would absolutely know the difference…_

There went his heart again, picking up a tick…Just like Raphael's damn smirk.

Oh great, gotta make sure you give him plenty of examples to compare so he's totally sure what embarrassing thing you're heart's racing from this time…

_Crap…_

_God he's never gonna live this down…_

_I mean se-_

"Raph, sweetheart? You know that's rude. We don't call out people's reactions unless they're particularly obnoxious, _particularly_ homophobic jackasses who deserve that specific type of torment. Reading someone's emotions is rather like reading their dairy. We cannot help seeing what we see but seeing it and calling someone out on it are two very different things.

Unless you want me to go play by play into every last reaction _**you're**_ currently having to your adorable new beau there I'd suggest you knock it off. Besides I think you've tormented Alexander here more than enough for one evening, don't you?"

Raphael froze a moment, blushing, swallowing, giving a quick nod.

"Of course Mags, that really was rather overstepping, my apologies Alec. Oh! Besides we've kinda missed a pretty interesting part- Simon here can actually read _**six**_ demonic languages…and Latin apparently. He actually taught himself."

Simon flushed, shrugging, giving a slight wave.

"It's not really that impressive. I j-"

Alec kinda tuned out, letting the cute Simon chatter wash over him. He'd normally never do that- it's rude to ignore your friends and yeah Simon talked a lot but Alec never just ignored it…Especially when it's something that is news to him as well…

Before today he had no idea Simon had learned even one demonic language-Let alone _SIX_.

He had no idea his best friend had apparently been Fanboying about the freaking demon king for what seems like at least a year or so…Or that demons were human lie detectors…that they could read every physical cue a person put off…

Every. Last. One.

Before today he never in a million years thought he'd look at a demon and see anything but an enemy, a villain, a monster…

Alec glanced over at Magnus, gaze trailing over the strikingly beautiful profile. From what he's just now noticing are ever so slightly pointed ears adorned with that beguiling dragon earcuff thing, sharp cheekbones and stunningly gorgeous features. Full, soft pinkish red lips, softly iridescent skin the color of bright new leaves in springtime, beautiful glimmering kohl rimmed pinkish violet eyes flickering, reflecting like the oddly iridescent shimmering violet flames he'd seen when Magnus first appeared.

Alec felt his breath catch, heart rate picking up a few more tics. He wasn't entirely sure if it was from fear or something else- or maybe he was and he just really didn't want to admit it to himself- but he had a pretty good idea it didn't really matter as two of the people in the room no doubt knew exactly what it was from…

He glanced over again…

Magnus said 'We'…meaning he's a type of demon…b-but that doesn't really fit. Well it does…but not all of it. He knows he saw the shimmer of Fae magic mixed in with the flickering flames. That odd incandescent something or other sparking and flickering, mingling with the flames. The glimmering skin is a Fae characteristic- as is the pointed ears…

Those are traits ONLY found in Fae beings…

_So…h-he's somehow Demon AND Fae?_

_What?_

_How is that ev-_

Magnus sighed softly, settling closer, hand trailing down, squeezing Alec's shoulder comfortingly. Alec's heart sped up even more, he felt a bit lightheaded. He quickly clamped his jaw shut to keep in any embarrassing sounds but couldn't quite fight the urge to lean into the other man a little more, feeling that exhilarating, dizzying electric thrill of the magic everywhere they came into contact.

_Oooh…crap…_

_Okay…maybe Simon's life wasn't the only one about to get a hell of a lot more complicated._

*_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _*~__Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__~*~__Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__~*_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

"And the guys weird little antisocial mongoose too!" Simon finished animatedly.

Magnus was actually shaking he was laughing so much, leaning into Alec's shoulder, arm kinda thrown casually around him, tugging him in, shaking his head faintly.

Alec was kinda okay with it…like kinda _really_ okay with it…

The man really was the most stunningly gorgeous person Alec has ever seen. He was trying to convince himself maybe he'd been romanticizing the guy. I mean it would make sense. Both times he'd seen Magnus had been pretty insane. It was dark, adrenaline pumping, there was a thrill, danger and excitement in the air. And especially during the canisumbra thing…While it annoyed Alec to no end Simon's 'Knight in shining Clubwear' thing hadn't really been too far off the mark. The guy DID literally drop out of the sky to save him from certain death…

That was pretty heroic.

And quite frankly sexy as hell.

He tried to focus on the danger of the encounter, the vicious pack of hell beasts, he really did but…umm…the way Magnus had handled that? How he'd totally taken charge? The calm, strength, the sheer power?

_Woah…_

By all rights Alec should have been absolutely terrified of the man during the fight- Hell he should be right now.

He _**knows**_ he should be…

But that is NOT the feeling he get's thinking back to that night.

Not even close.

_Geez…_

He'd kinda secretly hoped that he'd just been romanticizing the guy. It was exciting and thrilling- all adrenaline and fight and craziness. He'd hoped when/if he saw the man again- saw him under normal circumstances- not crazy life and death or weirdly exciting fighting- that he'd realize he was just building the guy up into some kind of fantasy.

I mean really it had to be something like that.

Honestly, who is actually THAT gorgeous?

Alec glances over eyes flickering over the strikingly beautiful profile and shimmering pinkish violet eyes, feeling his heart rate jump, breath catching slightly.

_Magnus Bane…that's who._

Alec thought it'd be better without all the distractions- he'd be more in control, more able to focus.

It was not.

If anything it was worse.

I mean yeah, the night on the roof and with the canisumbra attack he'd noticed the guy, been kinda captivated, but that was quite a bit different. Then there were distractions, there was fear and danger, adrenaline and excitement… so much he had to keep focusing on…

But now…

Here…

Now there isn't…

There's no drama, no fear, no danger_ (Well no danger now that Raphael's back to focusing on Simon). _There's just him and his best friend babbling on excitedly and the single most beautiful person Alec has ever seen in his entire life practically cuddled up against his side.

It's dizzying, near intoxicating. There's that same exciting, buzzing little thrill dancing against his skin everywhere he and Magnus touch- and as in the last thirty minutes they've been setting here he's managed to slide closer and closer, so much so that he's just like half a step away from setting in Alec's lap- that's kinda a _lot_ of contact.

Which is…umm…kind of REALLY distracting.

Probably way too distracting.

He knows there's a lot they need to talk about. He has questions damnit.

_LOTS of question…_

_**Important**__ questions…_

H-he's just not really sure what they are right now. Not when Magnus is right THERE, when he's so close he can feel the heat of his skin, that addicting, dizzying little buzz of the magic, smell him _(Seriously, what kind of cologne does he use? Is it like a pheromone type thing or something? Scent should not be that distracting damnit)_ hear the catch of his breath, and that pretty, warm laugh that kinda tickles Alec's neck and makes his stomach do a little flip.

_Hmm…wow that's really…_

_No. Stop._

Get a hold of yourself Alec. You didn't come here for the world's most mind bogglingly insane textbook example of an 'opposites attract' type double date.

You came here for _**answers**_. You need to get your head out of the clouds, stop getting distracted by all the pretty and the sparkles and the stupidly alluring cologne and near uncomfortably appealing tingling magic thing and just focus damnit.

He took a deep breath, setting forward faintly. Simon noticed, trailing off.

"Umm…a-actually I can't remember how it ends…I kinda do that sometimes- even I can't keep track of my train of thought. And anyways I've been talking kinda a lot…

You guys probably know more than you want about me…I'm pretty much an open book. We didn't come here to find out about who my favorite X-man is…" He paused, shifting faintly, glancing over at Magnus.

"We actually came here because Alec wanted to find out more about you Magnus…well that is to say pretty much ANYTHING about you.

Gotta admit I'm pretty curious too.

Though not nearly as much as Alec- not only did he agree to come to a supernatural hang out with me in hopes of finding out about you- he agreed to go to an _actual_ club! Like voluntarily…

That's really a bigger deal than the supernatural thing with him."

Magnus tilted his head, shifting his focus over to Alec, smirking playfully, pretty violet eyes sparkling impishly.

"Not really a club person darling?"

Alec chuckled, shaking his head, giving a slight wave.

"Uh no…not even a little bit."

"I'm shocked." Raphael muttered sarcastically.

Alec shrugged, shaking his head faintly, glancing over at Raphael.

"I can't even pretend to be annoyed by that…it really is so far out of my element it's not even funny." He paused, glancing over at Simon, quirking his eyebrow.

"Though as point of fact I didn't actually 'agree' to the club thing. You didn't tell me where we were going till we were nearly here.

And even then you tried to just breeze past the Raphael part of the plan- and don't even think for a second I don't notice when you do that quick talking thing in the hopes of being able to push a bit of important/bat crap crazy information through with the rest of the Simon Babble.

I've known you for four years and have been your best friend for nearly two. I know when your voice goes up a little and the tempo picks up a bit more than usual to listen for the crazy…it's always gonna be there…

It's the same tone that preceded the Pumpkin Weasel Incident."

Raphael laughed, blinking, glancing curiously over at Simon, quirking his eyebrow.

"Pumpkin Weasel Incident?"

Simon snorted, quickly shaking his head, waving animatedly, blushing.

"Uh dude nope…not happening…that is SO not a first date conversation….that's like maybe tenth date."

Raphael's eyes sparked playfully, slipping a bit closer.

"First date? This is our first date?"

Simon blinked, flushing brilliantly, sputtering, reaching up, nervously brushing his hair back.

"I-uh…n-not…umm…I…uh…I-If you want it to be?" he said, glancing up hopefully.

Raphael seemed to think momentarily before giving a slight shrug, shaking his head.

"No…I don't think I want it to be."

Simon swallowed, deflating, nodding quickly.

"Oh um…t-that's o-"

Raphael chuckled softly, slipping closer, reaching over, resting his hand on Simon's, squeezing.

"Lindo? So far tonight I've tried to intimidate you, kinda made you think I was giving you poison, threatened your best friend- multiple times- at least once in earnest- and you called me an ass…

_Also_ multiple times.

Kinda think we can do better for a first date."

Simon giggled in surprise, nodding quickly,

"Well, when you put it that way…yeah. We should probably have a do over."

Raphael smiled, nodding, catching his hand, entangling their fingers,

"Definitely…"

Simon smiled softly, slipping a bit closer, settling in next to his side.

"S-so umm…when?"

Raphael smiled, eyes flickering over Simon, giving a shrug, free arm stretching out along the back of the lounge, hand kinda brushing his shoulder, quirking his eyebrow.

"Are you free tomorrow?"

Simon gave a bright, beaming smile before quickly trying to tramp it down slightly, pretending to think about it.

"Hmm…I don't know…that's awful soon…" he teased playfully.

Raphael chuckled, eyes sparking brightly, settling even closer with a slightly flippant wave.

"Well figure the sooner the better…"

"Oh…why's that?"

He shrugged.

"I really am quite curious about this whole 'Pumpkin Weasel Incident' thing. Ten dates is quite a lot…we really should start soon."

Simon laughed brightly, impishly raising his eyebrow.

"Hey now…I said MAYBE date ten…could take longer…maybe even quite a bit longer."

Raphael smiled, eyes flickering black, tugging him a bit closer.

"_**Good**_…so, tomorrow?"

Simon blushed, giving a bright, kind of amazed smile and a cute little giggly type laugh, brushing his hair back.

"Um…y-yeah…tomorrow would be great."

Alec couldn't help a bit of a smile at the excitement on Simon's face…and a silent plea to anything listening that this didn't totally blow up in the guys face. This was totally insane- so far beyond insane it wasn't even funny…

Oh my god…his best friend was dating a demon…His best friend was dating the freaking demon KING.

Normally he'd be bending over backwards trying to get Simon to see how crazy this was, but there really was no missing the connection between the two…and no discounting it. There wasn't gonna be any keeping those two apart- all he could do is look out for his best friend and try to minimize any issues they came upon….Though he kinda figured Raphael would have that pretty well in hand.

But maybe he could offer a slightly less terrifying way to minimize said issue…especially the hunter shaped issues…

_Yeesh._

Alec took a deep breath shaking all of that away, glancing over at Magnus, faltering slightly, blinking in surprise…

_Huh…_

_Do polychromatic beings blush different colors?_

Magnus is no longer the bright faintly iridescent, spring green. He's now a striking, rich violet, eyes flickering a soft, glimmering yellow green.

_Wow..._

_He really is beautiful…_

_In every variation …_

Though this time part of that could be his expression. He has a brilliant, verging on giddy smile directed at Simon and Raphael, eyes sparkling warm and oh so bright, dancing like electric green flames…it's absolutely bewitching…really it's just…

"Wow…"

Oops…he said that out loud. The other three glance curiously over at him…well they do until Simon catches sight of Magnus. He gasps excitedly, eyes wide and amazed, eagerly bouncing.

"_Oh whoa! Dude! H-how…that…__**dude!"**_

Magnus blinks in confusion, quirking his eyebrow.

"Simon sweetheart? What is…oh…"He paused, glancing down, catching sight of his arm.

He shrugged, the soft, pretty violet warming to the rich, glimmering near hot pink, eyes shifting to a more emerald green right before their eyes. Alec couldn't help a slightly amazed huff of an almost laugh, swallowing, shaking his head. Magnus flushed brighter, giving a slight shrug and a flippant wave, color shifting dizzyingly from the rich pink back to violet, a near electric blue, and a soft aqua before settling back to the normal vibrant spring green.

Simon made an excited little squeaking kinda noise, eyes so wide Alec was rather worried they may actually fall out. Raphael chuckled, shaking his head affectionately, flashing a soft smile Magnus's way and a bit of a helpless shrug. Magnus smiled, giving an unconcerned wave, catching Raphael's eye, flashing a quick little wink.

"No worries dears, carry on…I just tend to do that sometimes…it's almost always a good thing."

Raphael made a slight breath of a laugh, nodding faintly. Alec shifted, turning more towards him, tilting his head curiously.

"Yeah…I remember…You're polychromatic right?"

Magnus blinked in surprise, looking impressed, pretty violet eyes sparking in interest.

"Yes…you know the term?"

Alec blushed faintly- he so wanted to just say yes to keep seeing that pretty look- but Raphael was sitting literally right there. 'Playing nice' or not no way he's passing up a clear shot like that-

Alec swallowed, settling a bit closer, shrugging…

"Uh…only for like the last hour and a half. The color changing thing was one of the only things I knew about you…and I didn't even know what that was-" He chuckled rolling his eyes faintly at himself.

"Can't believe I didn't realize turning bright pink was blushing…for heaven sake's my best friend is Simon! Think I'd have that one down."

"_Hey!"_ Simon snapped.

Alec quirked his eyebrow pointedly, going over the Simon babble from earlier. He could see Simon running through it as well. He gave a kinda sheepish shrug, nodding,

"Kay, fair point."

Alec nodded quickly, flashing a quick, affectionate smile before turning back to Magnus with a slight shrug.

"Raphael happened to mention the term. So apparently the bright pink is blushing- should've been simple enough to understand…can't believe I thought it was a threat or something-"

Magnus laughed in surprise.

"A threat? Seriously?"

"Hey it's not _**that**_ crazy alright? we'd been fighting!"

"Gorgeous, we were making out… for like ten minutes."

"O-okay…uh…but BEFORE that we were fighting…I caught you, penned you even. How was I supposed to know it wasn't gearing up for some kind of attack?"

Magnus snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Sweetheart that wasn't a fight…and you only 'caught me' because I wanted you to. Trust me gorgeous, that was NOT a fight."

Alec blushed.

"Okay so if it wasn't a fight what was it?"

Magnus smirked, giving a playful little shrug.

"Foreplay?"

Alec sputtered, blushing clear to his ears.

"I-that's n…it w…it…that's…n…" he trailed off, blushing even brighter.

Raphael snickered.

"Mags, usually I wouldn't try to interfere with your…whatever, but you keep going he's gonna turn brighter pink than you…Not sure that's entirely healthy. You probably don't want to save his life twice just to have him die of embarrassment."

Alec shot a slight glare the demons way.

"Yeah…thanks for the help."

He smirked, flashing a playful wink.

"What I'm here for."

Simon rolled his eyes, but settled a bit more against Raphael's side. Alec took a deep breath ignoring them, turning back to Magnus.

"And buried in the obnoxiousness and snark he did actually bring up a pretty good point."

"That I shouldn't tease you anymore? Oh…but you're so adorable when you blush!" Magnus pouted playfully, exaggeratedly batting his eyes.

It was in no way cute…

Nope…

_(Yeah he heard somewhere if you tell yourself a lie enough you may actually believe it…_

_Not working yet…)_

Alec took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pretty, shimmery, pouting distractions. He shook his head.

"No…the main reason I was so set on finding you. Magnus, you saved my life twice. I want to know why."

Magnus seemed to falter a moment, before shrugging, giving a slight shrug and a causal wave.

"I told you sweetheart, you needed help- I helped. That's all there is to it…well that and like I said; I was bored, you were hot."

Alec shook his head.

"Yeah…you said that…but that doesn't really work."

He tilted his head, pretty violet eyes sparking bright, glimmering like flames.

"How do you mean darling? I saw a chance to meet and maybe impress a pretty boy…can't blame a guy for taking a shot, right?"

Alec blushed faintly, but recovered, rolling his eyes.

"Oh come on Magnus, I'm not falling for that."

"Falling for what sweetheart? You don't believe I'm attracted to you? If not just ask Raph- he's had his 'ugh TMI' face on for like the last forty minutes. Pretty sure him cuddling up with Simon is a fifty fifty split between just Simon adorableness and him trying to focus on Simon's emotions in an effort to block out mine."

Raphael scoffed, giving an annoyed wave.

"You're wrong…It's a _**three**_ way split- Simon adorableness, and BOTH of your 'stuff'…_ugh_…. I'm never sure which is worse; practically being able to read my best friend/brother's thoughts and reactions to a possible romantic conquest or reading said conquests thoughts about my brother/best friend…

The demon equivalent of emotional earplugs cannot be invented fast enough.

This is why I never want to go on a double date with you."

Alec blushed, swallowing, faltering a bit.

_Hmm…t-that was…umm…_

"Ugh…" Raphael grumbled, glaring faintly at Alec before tugging Simon in closer, catching his hand, idly playing with his fingers, causing Simon to blush brightly, giving an impossibly sweet, soft little smile and a kinda dreamy sigh, cuddling closer.

Alec took a deep breath, trying to get back to the task at hand, ignoring the interruption and the distraction and the fact that the single more beautiful person he's ever seen in his entire life is 'reacting' to him…

Apparently enough to annoy a demon…

H-he'll get back to that later…when he's not in a room with his best friend who can read him like a book and two people who can literally sense his reactions to the information.

He shook his head, turning back to Magnus.

"Okay let's say I do believe you…you helped me because you thought I was hot…then what? You just decided to follow me to try and keep me out of trouble?"

Magnus shrugged, giving a flippant wave.

"Well, you did nearly fall off a roof, followed a totally unknown- _clearly_ powerful- supernatural into unfamiliar territory, fought in close quarter, hand to hand combat with said unknown supernatural without knowing his abilities, then were set upon by a pack of monsters…

Kinda seems like you need it."

Alec sputtered.

"Hey! That's not-"

Magnus quirked his eyebrow, eyes flickering again.

"What? Accurate? What part?"

Alec faltered, before freezing, tilting his head.

"You're trying to distract me…"

Magnus gave a slight laugh and a flippant wave, rolling his eyes.

"Oh really now-"

Alec nodded,

"Yes really. You do that any time I ask about it…the first time you tried to leave…then you kissed me…

At the cemetery you did your cloud portal thing right when I asked…when you first got here you started with the flirting…

Then the more blatant flirting…

Then you went for like a two for one thing- the flirting/attraction thing and reminding me about the demon lie detector thing…something you'd know would be a totally new thing for a hunter to learn and a really good way to get me to go on guard, focusing on what emotions I'm putting out instead of the initial topic. Then when all that didn't work you switched to trying to aggravate me…trying to get me on the defensive….

That's a hell of a lot of work, smoke screen and deception to cover what should be a simple answer.

Why did you save me…why were you protecting me?"

Magnus seemed to falter slightly, eyes flickering more blue violet, skintone shifting to a lighter yellow green.

_Hmm…interesting,_

Magnus shrugged, shaking his head.

"As I s-"

Alec shook his head right back, shifting more to face him.

"Yeah, yeah…'you were bored, I was hot' you said that…a lot. But that's not it. It wasn't just coincidence…it wasn't. You knew who I was. And yeah a lot of supernatural's would know the Lightwood's…but not on sight.

You _recognized_ me…more to that you called me by name."

Magnus shifted almost nervously, holding a finger up quickly.

"A lot of p-"

"People would know the Lightwood's by name, by reputation- but not just on sight…and another thing. You didn't call me Alec- you called me Alexander. No one calls me Alexander. The only people who do are my parents and my siblings because they know how much it pisses me off when my parents do…

That's it.

How do you know that? It's not like 'Alec' is just automatically a shortened name- it's a name in and of itself….

So how do you know that?" He sighed, shaking his head, shrugging, glancing up, meeting those gorgeous violet eyes, giving a slight wave.

"Magnus, I don't know what's going on here…I don't know why you're helping me- why you saved me…but I DO know that it wasn't just because 'you were bored and I was hot'. You know who I am…you knew who I was…before we even met. You came out of nowhere and saved my life from an insane- never-in-a-million-years-would-imagine threat that no one could have possibly foreseen…

You saved my life and I am grateful for that- I really am. But that does not change the fact that something more is going on here…something that isn't just coincidence…

It involves me…

I have a right to know." he finished quietly, meeting those bright, kaleidoscope eyes.

"I have a right to know the truth."

Magnus swallowed, beginning to come up with something before stopping, shrugging, giving a slight sigh and faint nod.

"You do Alexander."

He startled faintly at that, blinking in surprise.

"O-okay…so tell me…what is it, what is the truth?"

He shook his head faintly.

"I-sweetheart…I cannot tell you…I couldn't even begin to explain…"

Alec shook his head.

"Well you can try…"

He swallowed.

"I-I really couldn't."

Alec gave a frustrated sound and a flippant wave.

"_Well why not!?"_

"Because you wouldn't believe him if he did." A voice said from the doorway to the office.

Alec froze, feeling his heart stop.

_T-that…that voice…_

H-he knew that voice….he would know it anywhere. He's heard it laugh, and cry. He'd fell asleep listening to that voice. Heard that voice near every single day. He'd heard that voice speak its very first word…two days before he did…

Just because she had to outdo him…

She always had to outdo him…

He knew that voice better than he knew his own. He would recognize that voice right up until the day he died.

He would know it anywhere.

_Even when he hadn't heard it in over five years…and thought he never would again…_

He swallowed, feeling numb, dizzy, heart beating so fast even Raphael looks genuinely concerned.

T-that's probably expected.

He turns slowly, eyes traveling over to the office door, and comes face to face with a ghost.

Izzy smirks, leaning casually against the door, arms crossed, pose relaxed, head tilted, seemingly totally at ease, the slightest flicker of nervousness flitting in those oh so familiar deep brown eyes before it's covered by the normal Izzy swagger.

She shrugs, quirking her eyebrow.

"Hey big bro...been a while,

So…what's new?"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* _End Of Chapter Notes..._ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

**foc-zân****ă** fire-fairy _(FYI an elemental fairy, totally different type of flames than those of demonic magic)_

**Steaua mor****ț****ii=** Death Star (It made me laugh)

In my Alien Verse I kinda stumbled into Raphael using 'Angel' as a pet name for Simon I really like it and it fits the characters (Plus in the verses with Demon Raph it makes me chuckle a bit…and it's just cute)

_Dun, Dun, Dun!_

_(Sorry couldn't resist…)_

_So…did anyone see that coming?_

_FYI I know I got a teeny bit distracted by Raph and Simon but it wasn't too much right?_

Hey I can't resist them…

One chapter left…

So With it being the final chapter it will be uploaded when it's complete….meaning it may take a bit longer to update.

That being said I don't think it'll be too terribly long. I have all my final chapters planned out so it's just a matter of actually writing the entire thing out.

Verses 3,4.5.6. and 9 are all just gonna be eight chapters. I have all of them through the 1st half of chapter Seven. I'm hoping by the end of this week I can get them all up to getting my final chapters done.

(1,2,7 and 8 are just gonna wait till I get these five done…it won't be too long and then I can move faster as I'd of cut my stories I'm bouncing between in half.)

Anyways what do you think So far?


	8. Chapter 8- Ghosts Of Your Past

_**Chapter 8:**_

_**Ghosts Of the Past**_

_Kay this section is just 1 part and honestly it's like the shortest thing I've written in quite a while but at least for me what it lacks in length it more than makes up for in impact._

_At least that's what I think…hopefully you'll agree._

_*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_ _*~__Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__~*~__Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__ ~*~ __Alec__~*_ _*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*~__*____*____*____*____*____*____*____*__~*_

_W-what…that's just…what?_

T-that was Izzy…That. Was. Isabelle. His sister. Looking almost just like she did five years ago. Sharp, dark eyes, striking red lipstick, wavy dark hair. Though that's a bit different, it used to be far longer, halfway down her back. Now it's in faintly wild, haphazard waves falling just above her shoulders.

But still, that IS Izzy. Those are Izzy's 'fashionably distressed' dark blue jeans that he's never understood and her stupidly spiky heels that she'd bound around the rooftops like freaking Catwoman in and he'd always tease here doubled as weapons (that he'd actually seen her USE as weapons on more than one occasion). That's her signature 'lucky' leather jacket that she'd never go anywhere without with the zippers and the buckles and random too small for anything pockets and all that random decorative crap he never could figure out the point of…the jacket she was wearing the day of the fight. The day of the attack. Day she died…

_Or so he thought._

Alec swallowed, head shaking faintly, feeling his heart rate skyrocket, breathing becoming shallow.

"W-D-Izzy…wha-" he trailed off, unsure where to even begin, head spinning slightly feeling simultaneously too hot and too cold and altogether unsteady on his feet.

Magnus gasped softly, standing up darting over next to him, reaching over, resting his hand lightly on Alec's shoulder, a glimmer of sparkling violet flames flickering about his fingers. Alec gasped, shivering at an odd, warming sensation, feeling his heart rate even out, breathing normalizing, unable to resist leaning into the touch. Magnus settled closer, arm slipping around Alec's shoulder squeezing, hand traveling soothingly up and down his arm, the glimmer of flames flickering against his skin. Alec shook his head, glancing from Izzy over to Magnus blinking in confusion.

"Wha-?"

"It's just a small spell sweetheart, apologies, I know Angelus Sanguis tend to be rather twitchy about magic and generally I'd never use it on someone without their express permission but you were getting dangerously close to passing out. I figured you'd find this a bit more preferable, especially in the face of such a great shock." he huffed, pulling away just the tiniest bit, shaking his head censuringly, bright violet gaze shifting from Alec over to Izzy.

"Really Isabelle- You know I like a dramatic entrance as much as the next person but time and place."

Izzy scoffed, giving a sarcastic eyebrow raise.

"Alright first off Mags? The only lecturing you should ever be doing on 'dramatic entrances' is on how to do them more effectively, and besides I didn't really have a hell of a lot of time. You called and told me Raph caught Alec snooping around the club and had him in his weapon laden, non magically protected 'office of doom' thinking he was stalking YOU- meaning we were in a bit of a time crunch. Not all of us can just snap our fingers and summon a portal to travel halfway across the world in the time it takes to blink. I had to take the subway, two cabs that got caught in traffic and run the last five blocks…Should've just legged it the entire way, would've been faster."

Raphael scoffed, nodding, giving a slight, near chuckle.

"Definitely…and by the way how many times do I have to tell you not to refer to this as my 'office of doom'? I'm a demon, not a damn supervillian."

"Please, who do you think you're fooling? You play the 'Supervillian' shtick to the hilt and you know it damn good and well. All you're missing is the black cape and eye patch…which I already have back ordered for your birthday- try to act surprised."

"Oh I do n-"

"Hey! Enough joking around crap- what the hell is going on here?" Simon interrupted, eyes shifting from Raphael over to Magnus and Izzy before settling back on Alec.

He pulled away from Raphael, standing up, moving quickly across the room, stopping just in front of Alec, looking him over in concern, meeting his eyes before reaching over, catching his arm, tugging gently.

"Alec? Dude, come on…I really think you need to sit back down for this whatever the hell it is. Here, I got you."

He slipped his arm around Alec, kind of tugging him over, settling him back in the chair, taking a seat on the arm, hand resting gently on Alec's shoulder, subconsciously putting himself between the other three and his best friend, comfortingly squeezing his shoulder once more, flashing a soft, supportive smile. He shifted his gaze from Alec taking a deep breath, setting up straight, moving a bit more between Alec and the others, bright golden brown eyes sharp and focused, shifting over the other three, head cocked slightly, waiting.

"Alright, which one of you wants to start?"

_Damn…he really couldn't ask for a better best friend._

The other three blinked in surprise at the sudden change. Magnus looked shocked, totally thrown. Raphael seemed shocked as well but definitely impressed- clearly he liked 'take charge' Simon. Even as distracted as he was Alec couldn't miss the interested little spark in his flickering black eyes _(Alec mindfully wasn't gonna dwell on that- he had enough mind breaking insanity to contend with at the moment thank you very much). _

Izzy looked confused and slightly suspicious. She tilted her head, blinking in surprise, eyes flickering over him curiously, sparking with the beginnings of a challenge.

"And you are?"

Alec took a deep breath, settling a bit forward, reaching over, resting his hand on Simon's arm, squeezing.

"Simon Lewis- the best friend anyone could ever ask for." He glanced up, meeting Simon's eyes, flashing a kinda weak but nonetheless grateful smile, feeling a bit of his mind starting back up.

"Thanks man."

"Anytime."

"Right back at you...Well…"

Simon chuckled, tilting his head.

"Uh yeah…thinking we're not really gonna have a reverse of this situation…at least I sure as hell hope not. The family I have is already too much to deal with- definitely don't need any coming back from the dead."

Alec gave a surprised laugh, nodding.

"Uh yeah…I could see that."

He took another deep breath, squeezing Simon's arm once more before kind of bracing himself as best he can, turning back to Izzy, shaking his head.

"I-Izzy…I know you've never liked the emotional, dramatic crap. I know your first instinct when faced with it is always to deflect, joke or just brush it off entirely and I get it…I do…b…but…Iz? That…you can't do that here.

_You can't. _

I thought you were dead. All of us did. Me, Jace, Max, mom and dad. We've spent the last five years trying to come to terms with it. Trying to accept that you were gone. It hurt every single day- it still does- there has not been one day in the last five years that you have not crossed my mind. That I haven't wished I could see you again- talk to you. Find out how you would handle something. I love Max and Jace with all my heart, but you…Iz you're my twin…we have literally been together from the moment we were born.

I thought you were dead…I've thought that for nearly half a decade. And now I find out that…what? That you just left…w-walked away?

I…Iz…I don't know how to process this. I don't know how to even begin to process this. I need you to tell me what's going on.

I want to know the truth."

She looked away, shaking her head, seeming to nearly shrink into herself, wrapping her arms around herself near protectively, kind of tucking her hands into the pockets of her black leather jacket. She shook her head again, slumping back against the door, swallowing.

"Y-you really don't." she all but whispered, voice barely a breath of a sound, thready and soft, near broken.

There's something in that tone that gives him pause, sets off alarms in his head unlike anything he's ever heard. For the first time today really wondering if he did in fact want to know the truth behind all of this.

_B-but…he had to…It was __**Izzy**__…_

It was Izzy and she sounded hurt, and scared, almost broken…and that is something he's never heard in her. Never imagined hearing from her.

He was almost positive he didn't WANT to know the truth…but he was dead certain he _**needed**_ to.

He scooted forward, swallowing, trying to prepare as best he could.

"Isabelle please…whatever it is I need to know. I need to know the truth. I need to know why for the last five years my sister let me think she was dead."

She took a deep, shuttering breath, head shaking again, eyes closed tight, a flicker of something fluttering over her skin, seemingly a trick of the light. She moved slowly, pulling her hands out of the pockets. Alec startles faintly, her nails look different, they're slick black and longer than just a moment ago, sharpened to a point that glints in the light like the oh so many blades adoring the walls.

There's that flicker again, a barely there glimmer of a patterning flickering across her skin, rippling like a mirage. Her hands rise up, rubbing at her face, pushing her hair back. She takes one more deep, centering breath, eyes opening.

Alec feels his heart stop. Simon can't quite contain a gasp, startling faintly beside him.

Her eyes are no longer the deep, rich, oh so familiar brown. They're a brilliant gleaming gold, the pupils elongated slits like those of a cat. There's a soft, eerily flickering glow to them.

She looked up meeting his gaze head on, bright, golden eyes glowing brighter, flickering with an internal fire that was so unmistakably Isabelle Lightwood it made his breath catch.

"Because so far as The Angelus Sanguis Council is concerned that is when I died.

Or more accurately that's when they did everything within their power to kill me."

_T__h__e__E__n__d__*__*__*__*_ _*__*__*__F__o__r__N__o__w_

_I'm feeling a bit repetitive in my endings here but…_

Dun, dun, dun…

Did you see that one coming?

Oh come on I had at least one that didn't end on a major cliffhanger…I-I think…uh…t-the psychic one…right?

_Kay one out of five we're good._

Hey it's the 1st story of a 10 part season (I think of them as seasons as many I already have plans for a 2nd…one I may actually have plans through to a 3rd but that's jumping WAY ahead) have to convince you all to keep reading somehow.

I know it's kinda a cruel place to leave off but trust me there's not gonna be a better stopping point than that.

The next story a large portion of it will be from Izzy's POV explaining…well…all of _**that**_. Heads up it's probably gonna be some of the most angsty type stuff I've ever written, but it is necessary and it will SO be worth it. This verse is probably gonna be one of the darkest I have (I know that ain't saying much coming from me, but still).

There's gonna be a lot of drama, a lot of action, a LOT of familial angst, and probably a fair bit more drama (And you know lots of fluffy, fun, Malec, Saphael Clizzy and Mallie (Max and Billie- yes I gave them a couply name…they totally deserve one.) cuteness to break it up…you know I got you guys covered with the fluffiness lol.)

So same deal as the other stories I want to let you all know what's coming but not give away TOO much (where's the fun in that). Here's the upcoming titles to give you just the tiniest idea of what's to come…

2\. Death Was Just The Beginning

3\. The Friends We Find And Keep

4\. Demons, Dates and Daring Escapes

5\. No Turning Back

6\. Two Sides Of The Same Coin

7\. Who Are The Real Monsters

Reality

Fight For What's Right

10\. Where Do Your Loyalties Lie?-

So…are we excited?

I know I am…

Thank you guys so much for reading and commenting- it truly means the world to me getting a chance to share all of the randomness in my head with people who actually get it.

Thank you again…

You guys are amazing!


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